Silver cluster (Ag₆) decorated coronene as non-enzymatic sensor for glucose and H₂O₂

Silver-graphene quantum dots are promising electrochemical sensors due to their unique electronic properties. Herein, we report the comprehensive DFT study to explore the electronic properties of silver cluster (Ag₆) decorated coronene as model for silver graphene quantum dots. The current study aims to investigate the sensing ability of silver-coronene complex for non-enzymatic electrochemical detection of glucose & H₂O₂. The stability of the complexes of analytes with silver decorated coronene is supported by their greater interaction energies (-36.7 to -44.9 kcal mol^-1)_. NBO charge analysis and charge decomposition analysis (CDA) reveal donor-acceptor charge transfer interactions in the complexes. Frontier molecular orbital analysis illustrates that charge is transferred from analytes to silver decorated coronene during excitation from HOMO to LUMO. The Uv-visible results show that λ_max is red shifted during interactions of analytes with silver decorated coronene. The NCI analysis illustrates the strong non-covalent (M … O) and unusual M … H-O interactions in the complexes. The precedent sensing performance of Ag₆-coronene might be attributed to the synergistic effect of both silver clusters and coronene in the composite. The evaluated results validate the excellent sensing ability of silver-graphene quantum dots for the detection of glucose & H₂O₂. The outcome of the current study and its prospects will open the avenue for the rational development of smart sensors.