Sonochemical fabrication of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide for biosensors

This study synthesized Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles of 30-40nm by a sonochemical method, and these particles were uniformly dispersed on the reduced graphene oxide sheets (Fe(3)O(4)/RGO). The superparamagnetic property of Fe(3)O(4)/RGO was evidenced from a saturated magnetization of 30emu/g tested by a sample-vibrating magnetometer. Based on the testing results, we proposed a mechanism of ultrasonic waves to explain the formation and dispersion of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles on RGO. A biosensor was fabricated by modifying a glassy carbon electrode with the combination of Fe(3)O(4)/RGO and hemoglobin. The biosensor showed an excellent electrocatalytic reduction toward H(2)O(2) at a wide, linear range from 4×10(-6) to 1×10(-3)M (R(2)=0.994) as examined by amperometry, and with a detection limit of 2×10(-6)M. The high performance of H(2)O(2) detection is attributed to the synergistic effect of the combination of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles and RGO, promoting the electron transfer between the peroxide and electrode surface.