In situ synthesis of sandwich MOFs on reduced graphene oxide for electrochemical sensing of dihydroxybenzene isomers.

A novel type of sandwich MOF was successfully synthesized on reduced graphene oxide (denoted as M@Pt@M-rGO) by an in situ synthesis method. The obtained M@Pt@M-rGO possesses excellent electrochemical properties. The surface morphology and structure of M@Pt@M-rGO were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), etc. By using M@Pt@M-rGO, a novel electrochemical sensor was constructed and successfully used for the simultaneous and sensitive detection of three isomers: hydroquinone (HQ), catechol (CT) and resorcinol (RS), with wider linear ranges of concentrations of 0.05-200 μM, 0.1-160 μM and 0.4-300 μM and lower detection limits of 0.015 μM, 0.032 μM and 0.133 μM (S/N = 3) for HQ, CT and RS, respectively. Besides, the proposed electrochemical sensor showed excellent anti-interference capability, high stability, good reproducibility, and satisfactory recovery for determination of isomers in river and lake water.