Morphologically Tunable MnO2 Nanoparticles Fabrication, Modelling and Their Influences on Electrochemical Sensing Performance toward Dopamine

The morphology or shape of nanomaterials plays an important role in functional applications, especially in the electrochemical sensing performance of nanocomposites modified electrodes. Herein, the morphology-dependent electrochemical sensing properties of MnO2-reduced graphene oxide/glass carbon electrode (MnO2-RGO/GCE) toward dopamine detection were investigated. Firstly, various morphologies of nanoscale MnO2, including MnO2 nanowires (MnO2 NWs), MnO2 nanorods (MnO2 NRs), and MnO2 nanotubes (MnO2 NTs), were synthesized under different hydrothermal conditions. Then the corresponding MnO2-RGO/GCEs were fabricated via drop-casting and the subsequent electrochemical reduction method. The oxidation peak currents increase with the electrochemical activity area following the order of MnO2 NWs-RGO/GCE, MnO2 NTs-RGO/GCE, and MnO2 NRs-RGO/GCE. The spatial models for MnO2 NWs, MnO2 NTs, and MnO2 NRs are established and accordingly compared by their specific surface area, explaining well the evident difference in electrochemical responses. Therefore, the MnO2 NWs-RGO/GCE is selected for dopamine detection due to its better electrochemical sensing performance. The response peak current is found to be linear with dopamine concentration in the range of 8.0 × 10−8 mol/L–1.0 × 10−6 mol/L and 1.0 × 10−6 mol/L–8.0 × 10−5 mol/L with a lower detection limit of 1 × 10−9 mol/L (S/N = 3). Finally, MnO2 NWs-RGO/GCE is successfully used for the determination of dopamine injection samples, with a recovery of 99.6–103%. These findings are of great significance for understanding the relationship between unlimited nanoparticle structure manipulation and performance improvement.