Nitrogen-doped graphene-poly(hydroxymethylated-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanocomposite electrochemical sensor for ultrasensitive determination of luteolin.

An ultrasensitive luteolin electrochemical sensor was constructed by co-electropolymerization of nitrogen-doped graphene (N-GR) and hydroxymethylated-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT-MeOH) using cyclic voltammetry (CV). Because of the synergistic effects of the large surface area, superior electrical conductivity, and large amount of chemically active sites of N-GR together with the satisfactory water solubility and high conductivity of poly(hydroxymethylated-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT-MeOH), the N-GR-PEDOT-MeOH nanocomposite sensor exhibited high electrochemical sensitivity towards luteolin with a wide linear range of 0.005-10.06 μM and low detection limit of 0.05 nM. Satisfactory reproducibility, selectivity, and stability were exhibited by this electrochemical sensor. Additionally, the proposed sensor was employed for trace-level analysis of luteolin in actual samples of herbal medicines (thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.), honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunb.), and Tibetan Duyiwei (Lamiophlomis rotata (Benth.) Kudo)) with satisfactory results.