High-performance carbon composite electrode based on an ionic liquid as a binder

Ionic liquid, n-octylpyridinum hexafluorophosphate (OPFP) has been used to fabricate a new carbon composite electrode with very attractive electrochemical behavior. This type of carbon electrode has been constructed using graphite mixed with OPFP as the binder. The electrode has combined advantages of edge plane characteristics of carbon nanotubes and edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes together with the low cost of carbon paste electrodes and robustness of metallic electrodes. It provides a remarkable increase in the rate of electron transfer of different organic and inorganic electroactive compounds and offers a marked decrease in the overvoltage for biomolecules such as NADH, dopamine, and ascorbic acid. It also circumvents NADH surface fouling effects as well as furnishing higher current density for a wide range of compounds tested. Depending on the choice of the electrolyte, the electrode can have the ion-exchange property and adsorptive characteristics of clay-modified electrodes. The proposed electrode thus allows sensitive, low-potential, simple, low-cost, and stable electrochemical sensing of biomolecules and other electroactive compounds. Scanning electron microscopy images indicate significant improvement in the microstructure of the proposed electrode compared to carbon paste electrodes. Such abilities promote new opportunities for a wide range of electrochemical and biosensing applications.