A customizable wireless potentiostat for assessing Ni(OH)2 decorated vertically aligned MoS2 thin films for electrochemical sensing of dopamine†

Abstract

In this study, we show that on-chip grown, vertically aligned MoS₂ films that are decorated with Ni(OH)₂ catalyst are suitable materials to be applied as working electrodes in electrochemical sensing. The constructed sensors display a highly repeatable response to dopamine, used as a model analyte, in a large dynamic range from 1 μM to 1 mM with a theoretical detection limit of 0.1 μM. In addition, to facilitate practical implementation of the sensor chips, we also demonstrate a low power wireless cyber-physical system that we designed and accommodated for cyclic voltammetry measurements. The developed cost-effective and portable instrument enables straightforward data acquisition, transfer and visualization through an Android mobile interface, and has an accuracy comparable to reference analysis of our sensors using a commercial table-top laboratory potentiostat.