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Single-layer graphene-coated gold chip for electrochemical surface plasmon resonance study

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Abstract

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) employs a gold (Au) thin film (ca. 50 nm in thickness) chip to generate a surface plasmonic wave (SPW) for in situ monitoring of the interface/surface, which makes it intrinsically compatible with electrochemistry for combined electrochemical surface plasmon resonance (EC-SPR) investigations. However, conventional SPR Au chips suffers from a high background signal, narrow electrochemical window, and limited electrochemical stability. Presented in this work is a novel SPR chip composed of the Au/long-chain alkane thiol self-assembled monolayer/single-layer graphene (Au/SAM/G) sandwich architecture to address these problems. On this chip, the single-layer graphene serves as a working electrode for electrochemical measurement, and the underlying Au film serves as the SPW support for SPR monitoring; the sandwiched thiol monolayer enables the electrical separation of the graphene and Au film to protect the Au film from electrochemical polarization. Our experiment indicates that the electrochemical window of such a chip extends beyond the hydrogen/oxygen evolution reaction potential on Au with significantly improved electrochemical stability and suppressed background signal. Moreover, its intrinsic SPR sensitivity is completely reserved even compared to that of the conventional SPR Au chip. This Au/SAM/G chip may offer a valuable solution to the EC-SPR investigations in harsh conditions.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21273173, 61675037, 61405021), the Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC (cstc2016jcyjA0493, cstc2017jcyjBX0048), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (XDJK2018B001, 2018CDQYGD0022, cqu2018CDHB1B03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education; Insti-tute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials, Faculty of Materials & Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Yihong Mei, Changyin Zhong, Ling Li & Weihua Hu

  2. Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology & Systems, Ministry of Education of China, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China

    Jinpeng Nong & Wei Wei

Authors
  1. Yihong Mei
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  2. Changyin Zhong
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  3. Ling Li
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  4. Jinpeng Nong
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  5. Wei Wei
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  6. Weihua Hu
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Correspondence to Wei Wei or Weihua Hu.

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Published in the topical collection Young Investigators in (Bio-)Analytical Chemistry with guest editors Erin Baker, Kerstin Leopold, Francesco Ricci, and Wei Wang.

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Mei, Y., Zhong, C., Li, L. et al. Single-layer graphene-coated gold chip for electrochemical surface plasmon resonance study. Anal Bioanal Chem 411, 4577–4585 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1456-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1456-1

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