Design of Ni(OH)2 nano-boxes@CuS nanosheets hollow hierarchical structure to achieve synergistic catalysis for high sensitivity dopamine electrochemical sensing

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2022-12, Vol.929, p.167390, Article 167390
• Main Authors: Liu, Yumiao, Liu, Yurong, Ou, Hanwen, Shi, Dongping, Tian, Liangliang, Chen, Zhiqian, Bao, Shujuan, Xiao, Wei, Meng, Xiang, Hu, Rong, Song, Jing, Chen, Wenbo, Cheng, Zhengfu, Zhao, Gangzhen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Boxes; Coordinated etching and precipitation; Copper sulfides; CuS nanosheets; Dopamine; Dopamine electrochemical sensor; Electroactivity; Electrocatalysts; Electrodes; Glassy carbon; Hollow hierarchical structure; Kinetics; Nanosheets; Ni(OH)2 nano-boxes; Nickel compounds; Scaffolds; Sensitivity; Sulfidation; Transition metals; Two dimensional materials
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.167390

Inspired by electrocatalytic kinetics, the design of hollow hierarchical structure through the integration of three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds and two-dimensional (2D) sheet-like materials was considered as an effective approach to achieve superior electrocatalytic activity. Ni(OH)2 nano-boxes@CuS nanosheets hollow hierarchical structure (Ni(OH)2 NBs@CuS NSs HHS) was synthesized by a sulfidation involved coordinated etching and precipitation (CEP) process for the first time. Interestingly, CuS nanosheets were vertically distributed on Ni(OH)2 NBs. As a sensitive electrode for dopamine, Ni(OH)2 NBs@CuS NSs HHS modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) showed a sensitivity as high as 1011.7 μA mM−1 cm−2, which was greater than those of Ni(OH)2 NBs@CuS NSs fragmentized HHS/GCE (Ni(OH)2 NBs@CuS NSs FHHS/GCE, 354.1 and 717.2 μA mM−1 cm−2), CuS NBs/GCE (646.2 μA mM−1 cm−2) and Ni(OH)2 NBs/GCE (472.1 and 848.2 μA mM−1 cm−2). Moreover, Ni(OH)2 NBs@CuS NSs HHS/GCE showed an ultralow detection limit of 3.2 nM. According to theoretical calculation, the excellent electroactivity was attributed to the enhanced kinetics issued from the combination of 3D Ni(OH)2 NBs and 2D CuS NSs. Ni(OH)2 NBs@CuS NSs HHS was expected as an ideal electrocatalyst for dopamine electrochemical sensing, and the integrating of transition metal-based hollow scaffolds and 2D materials provided new thought to acquire high electrocatalystic activity. [Display omitted] •Ni(OH)2 NBs@CuS NSs HHS was designed for the first time to detect dopamine.•The products of CEP step were employed as the reactant of sulfidation step.•The modified electrode exhibits high sensitivity and low detection limit.•This work paves an effective way to obtain high-performance electrocatalysts.