Films of lutetium bisphthalocyanine nanowires as electrochemical sensors

Abstract

Lutetium bisphthalocyanine (LuPc(2)) nanowires have been successfully obtained by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The influence of the deposition conditions and annealing in the structure of the films has been studied by AFM, SEM, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis absorption, and near-infrared (NIR). The electrochemical properties of the EDP films immersed in different electrolytic solutions (KCl, MgCl(2), KClO(4), HCl, and NaOH) indicate that anions diffuse inside the film to maintain the electroneutrality and the kinetics follows the Randles-Sevcik equation. The stability of the response increases strongly upon annealing due to the improvement of the adhesion of the sensitive material to the substrate. The EPD films have been successfully used to detect caffeic acid (an antioxidant of interest in the food industry). The anodic peak associated with the oxidation of caffeic acid appears at 0.54 V and is linearly dependent on the caffeic acid concentration in the 6 × 10(-5) M to 5 × 10(-4) M range with a detection limit of 3.12 × 10(-5) M. The electrochemical behavior of the annealed LuPc(2) EPD films is similar to that observed using Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) nanostructured films. However, the different molecular organization of the molecules inside the film causes differences in the shape and position of the peaks. Although LuPc(2) sensors prepared with both EPD and LB techniques provide stable and reproducible responses, the use of EPD is preferred for real sensing applications because of its lower cost, shorter preparation time, and longer lifetime.