Abstract

The salient features of the present work focus on the synthesis of CuO nanoleaves by alcoholic reduction of Cu(II) chloride in the presence of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) for the application of folic acid oxidation in simulated body fluid environment. PDDA-assisted polyol process allows a conventional impregnation method for the formation of CuO with well-defined leaf-like structure. The structure and morphology of the CuO nanoleaves were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) image confirms the formations of CuO with leaf-like morphology and branched side edges. The average size of the resultant CuO nanoleaves was calculated to be 400 nm in length and 150 nm in width. The electrochemical performance of the CuONs/MWCNTs/ GCE nanocomposite modified electrode was characterized by cyclic voltammetric (CV) studies. The CuONs/MWCNTs/ GCE nanocomposite modified electrode shows good electrochemical activity and it was also found that it possessed prominent electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of folic acid with as high a sensitivity as 3.35 mu A/mu M and a low detection limit (3 sigma) of 15.2 nM (S/N = 3). Besides, the CuO nanocomposite modified electrode lowers the over potential of folic acid oxidation than the unmodified electrodes.