Electrochemical sensing of nicotine using screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with nitrogen-doped graphene sheets

Abstract Rapid and accurate detection of nicotine is important due to its detrimental effects on human beings and recent surge in the usage of electronic cigarettes. In this paper, we report an electrochemical sensor for nicotine detection by using screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) modified with nitrogen-doped graphene sheets (NGS). NGS was synthesized and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectrometry. Due to the superior electron transfer capability and the doped nitrogen atoms, NGS shows high catalytic activity for the electro-oxidation of nicotine, with a significant decrease in the overpotential. Using the NGS-based nicotine sensor, we obtained detection sensitivity at 0.627 mA·cm− 2 mM− 1 with the limit of detection at 47 nM nicotine. Moreover, the sensor shows favorable selectivity and long-term stability for detecting nicotine in urine and tobacco samples.