rGO-based porous structure modified by PPy/β-CD for 3D electrochemical chiral sensor

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Chiral discrimination is vital across medicine, food, and materials science.
• Developing selective and sensitive chiral sensors remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel electrochemical chiral sensor with a 3D porous interface for efficient tryptophan enantiomer discrimination.
• To integrate chirality, conductivity, and porosity into a single sensing platform.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a 3D porous reduced graphene oxide (p-rGO) film using a self-assembly and electrochemical reduction process.
• Co-deposition of polypyrrole (PPy) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) onto the p-rGO framework to create the chiral sensing interface.
• Electrochemical detection and quantification of D- and L-tryptophan enantiomers.

Main Results:

• The p-rGO/PPy/β-CD electrode demonstrated high enantioselectivity for D- and L-tryptophan.
• The sensor enabled separate detection and quantification of L-tryptophan in racemic mixtures.
• Synergistic effects of β-CD, PPy, and p-rGO contributed to superior recognition performance, confirmed by theoretical simulations.
• The sensor exhibited excellent reproducibility, stability, and anti-interference capabilities, with successful real sample analysis.

Conclusions:

• The developed 3D porous chiral sensor offers high sensitivity and selectivity for enantiomer discrimination.
• This work presents a versatile strategy for designing advanced electrochemical sensing platforms by integrating conductive, porous, and chiral materials.
• The sensor shows significant potential for applications in chiral analysis within various scientific fields.