Nanocomposite of Au Nanoparticles/Helical Carbon Nanofibers and Application in Hydrogen Peroxide Biosensor

A combined sol-gel/hydrogen reduction method has been developed for the mass production of helical carbon nanofibers (HCNFs) by the pyrolysis of acetylene at 425 degrees C in the presence of NiO nanoparticles. The synthesized HCNFs were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The helical-structured carbon nanofibers have a large specific surface area and excellent biocompatibility. A novel enzymatic hydrogen peroxide sensor was then successfully fabricated based on the nanocomposites containing HCNFs and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The results indicated that the Au/HCNFs nanocomposites exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity to the reduction of H2O2, offering a wide linear range from 1.0 μM to 3157 μM with a detection limit as low as 0.46 μM. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant of the biosensor was 0.61 mM. The as-fabricated biosensor showed a rapid and sensitive amperometric response to hydrogen peroxide with acceptable preparation reproducibility and excellent stability. Because of their low cost and high stability, these novel HCNFs represent seem to be a kind of promising biomaterial and may find wide new applications in scopes such as biocatalysis, immunoassay, environmental monitoring and so on.