Composite electrode coatings in amperometric sensors. Effects of differently encapsulated gold nanoparticles in poly(3,4-ethylendioxythiophene) system

Composite materials consisting of poly(3,4-ethylendioxythiophene) including Au nanoparticles have been synthesised in order to develop new amperometric sensors with improved performances with respect to bare and to pure organic modified electrodes. The composite materials were prepared by including Au nanoparticles during the electropolymerisation process, by taking advantages to the anionic nature of the species surrounding the metal core. The resulting modified electrodes are found to preserve the repeatability and reproducibility of pure organic modified electrodes and to improve the selectivity toward anionic and cationic species chosen as the benchmark analytes, namely ascorbic acid and dopamine, respectively.