Highly sensitive electrochemical determination of nitric oxide using fused spherical gold nanoparticles modified ITO electrode

This paper describes the highly sensitive electrochemical determination of nitric oxide (NO) using the fused spherical gold nanoparticles (FAuNPs) modified ITO electrode. The FAuNPs were self-assembled on a (3-mercaptopropyl)-trimethoxysilane (MPTS) sol-gel film, which was preassembled on ITO electrode. The attachment of FAuNPs on MPTS sol-gel film was confirmed by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The AFM image shows that the AuNPs retain their fused morphology after immobilized on MPTS sol-gel film. The FAuNPs modified ITO electrode shows an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of NO. Using FAuNPs modified electrode, the detection of 12 nM NO was achieved for the first time by amperometry method. Further, the current response was increased linearly with increasing NO concentration in the range of 1.2 × 10⁻⁸ to 7 × 10⁻⁴ M and the detection limit was found to be 3.1 × 10⁻¹⁰ M (S/N = 3). The FAuNPs modified ITO electrode displays an excellent selectivity towards the determination of 12 nM NO even in the presence of 1000-fold excess common interfering agents.