Nitrogen Pyrolysis-Induced Enhancement of Active Sites in an Algae Residue for an Electrochemical Dopamine Biosensor

Abstract

As a kind of biomass, the seaweed residue will cause resource waste and environmental pollution if it is discharged as waste at will. As a cheap and easy biomass residue, its reuse has attracted more and more attention, and it has tapped the unexplored potential of renewable biological resources. In this study, we synthesize a carbon aerogel (CA) derived from an algae residue, which is utilized as an electrocatalyst for constructing an electrochemical dopamine (DA) biosensor. Utilizing the heightened disorder of carbon within CAs that was achieved through high-temperature pyrolysis and the augmentation of active sites, CAs show excellent electrocatalytic performance in the detection of DA and can selectively detect DA with a detection limit of 0.033 μM. Furthermore, the DA electrochemical biosensor is also employed to detect real samples with satisfactory reproducibility and stability. This study not only confirms the feasibility of introducing active defects to improve catalytic performance but also extends the application of the algae residue in electrochemical sensors for monitoring various biomolecules.