Preparation of novel azobenzene derivatives/potassium niobate nanocomposite and its application in electrochemical sensors

The guest molecule trans-[2-(2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutylamino) ethyl]-2-[4-(4-hexanobenzazo)-phenoxy] ethyl-dimethylammonium (abbreviated as C 3 F 7 -azo[Formula: see text]Br[Formula: see text]) were inserted into the K 4 Nb 6 O[Formula: see text] laminated by the guest–guest exchange method to synthesize C 3 F 7 -azo[Formula: see text]/Nb 6 O[Formula: see text] type-A nanocomposite with excellent electrochemical properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to characterize the structure and morphology of nanocomposite C 3 F 7 -azo[Formula: see text]/Nb 6 O[Formula: see text]. C 3 F 7 -azo[Formula: see text]ions were speculated to form bilayer between the [Nb 6 O[Formula: see text]][Formula: see text]lamellar at an angle of 51.1[Formula: see text] by morphology analysis and lamellar spacing calculation. This nanocomposite was used to fabricate an electrochemical sensor for simultaneous detection of dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA). Differential pulse voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in N 2 -saturated phosphate buffered solution (0.1 M, pH = 5) demonstrated excellent electrocatalytic activity. The sensor achieved detection limits of 1.74 [Formula: see text]M for DA and 1.57 [Formula: see text]M for AA.