Synthesis of dendritic silver nanostructures supported by graphene nanosheets and its application for highly sensitive detection of diazepam

In this paper, preparation, characterization and application of a new sensor for fast and simple determination of trace amount of diazepam were described. This sensor is based on Ag nanodendrimers (AgNDs) supported by graphene nanosheets modified glassy carbon electrode (GNs/GCE). The AgNDs were directly electrodeposited on the surface of electrode via potentiostatic method without using any templates, surfactants, or stabilizers. The structure of the synthesized AgNDs/GNs was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The nanodendrimers with tree-like and hierarchical structures have a fascinating structure for fabrication of effective electrocatalysts. The experimental results confirmed that AgNDs/GNs/GC electrode has good electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of diazepam. A low detection limit of 8.56 × 10(− 8) M and a wide linear detection range of 1.0 × 10(− 7) to 1.0 × 10(− 6) M and 1.0 × 10(− 6) to 20 × 10(− 6) M were achieved via differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The proposed electrode displayed excellent repeatability and long-term stability and it was satisfactorily used for determination of diazepam in real samples (commercially tablet, injection and human blood plasma) with high recovery.