Preparation of highly conjugated water-dispersible graphene-butyric acid for the enhancement of electron transfer within polyamic acid-benzoxazole: potential applications in electrochemical sensing.

To break through the long time and complex procedures for the preparation of highly conjugated reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) in developing electrochemical sensor, a time-saving and simple method is investigated in this study. One novel step of the exfoliated accompanying carboxylated graphene sheet from pristine is achieved via Friedel-Crafts acylation. By electrophilic aromatic substitution, the succinic anhydride ring is opened and attaches covalently to the graphene sheet (Gs) to form exfoliated graphene with grafted 1-one-butyric acid (Gs-BA). The grafting chain converts anions in aqueous solution to maintain Gs-BA in a stable dispersion and noticeably decreases the π-π stacking of the exfoliated Gs during the drying process. The analytical results of the absorption spectroscopy demonstrate that the conjugation of Gs-BA is not significantly destroyed by this chemical modification; Gs-BA retains the Gs electrical properties favorable for developing electrochemical sensors. When polyamic acid-benzoxazole (PAA-BO), a hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-sensitive probe, hybridizes with Gs-BA to form Gs-BA-PAA-BO, the electron transfer rate relating to the response time improves markedly from 1.09 s(-1) to 38.8 s(-1). Additionally, it offers a high performance for H₂O₂ sensing in terms of sensitivity and response time, making this method applicable for developing glucose and choline biosensors.