A novel sensitive sensor for serotonin based on high-quality of AuAg nanoalloy encapsulated graphene electrocatalyst

A high quality graphene-encapsulated AuAg alloy (AuAg-GR) nanohybrid with homogeneous structure and good reproducibility over a desired area was successfully fabricated. Taking benefits of the unique architecture, such nanohybrid was employed as an efficient electrocatalyst for sensing application. The AuAg-GR based sensor could sensitively detected neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT) with wide linear detection range (2.7 nM to 4.82 μM), very low detection limit (1.6 nM), negligible interference, and excellent reproducibility. In addition, AuAg-GR based sensor accurately determined 5-HT in human serum samples. This is due to the enhanced catalytic activity of GR nanosheets-encapsulated AuAg nanostructures, which possessed well monodispersion of AuAg alloy, greater electrochemical active sites, and good charge transfer possibility. The obtained results imply that such nanohybrid is a potential candidate for synthesizing electrochemical sensors in requirement of high sensitivity, long-term stability, and good reproducibility.