Ultra-stable Electrochemical Sensor for Detection of Caffeic Acid Based on Platinum and Nickel Jagged-Like Nanowires

Electrochemical sensors have the high sensitivity, fast response, and simple operation for applications in biological, medical, and chemical detection, but limited by the poor stability and high cost of the electrode materials. In this work, we used PtNi lagged-like nanowire for caffeic acid (CA) electrochemical detection. The removal of outer layer Ni during reaction process contributed to the rehabilitation of active Pt sites at the surface, leading to the excellent electrocatalytic behavior of CA sensing. Carbon-supported PtNi-modified glassy carbon electrode (PtNi/C electrode) showed a broad CA detecting range (from 0.75 to 591.783 μM), a low detection limit (0.5 μM), and excellent stability. The electrode preserved high electrocatalytic performance with 86.98% of the initial oxidation peak current retained after 4000 potential cycles in 0.5 mM caffeic acid solution. It also demonstrates excellent anti-interference capability and is ready for use in the real sample analysis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s11671-018-2839-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.