Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) decorated carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been prepared by an electrospinning approach and then carbonized. The prepared Au-CNFs were employed to modifying a screen printed electrode (SPE) for simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA). Au NPs are uniformly dispersed on carbon nanofibers were confirmed by the structure and morphological studies. The modified electrodes were tested in cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and chronoamperometry (CA) to characterize their electrochemical responses. Compared to bare SPE, the Au-CNFs/SPE had a better sensing response to AA, DA, and UA. The electrochemical oxidation signal of AA, DA and UA are well separated into three distinct peaks with peak potential separation of 280 mV, 159 mV and 439 mV between AA-DA, DA-UA and AA-UA respectively in CV studies and the corresponding peak potential separation in DPV studies are 290 mV, 166 mV and 456 mV. The Au-CNFs/SPE has a wide linear response of AA, DA and UA in DPV analysis over the range of 5–40 μM ( R2 = 0.9984), 2–16 μM ( R2 = 0.9962) and 2–16 μM ( R2 = 0.9983) with corresponding detection limits of 0.9 μM, 0.4 μM and 0.3 μM at S/N = 3, respectively. The developed modified SPE based sensor exhibits excellent reproducibility, stability, and repeatability. The excellent sensing response of Au-CNFs could reveal to a promising approach in electrochemical sensor.

Herein, the present work focuses on the effective counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. The bottom–up approach was adapted to synthesize Mn2O3 nanorods via the hydrothermal method and the reduced graphene oxide was merged with Mn2O3 to prepare a nanocomposite. The prepared nanocomposites were subjected to physio-chemical and morphological characterizations which revealed the crystalline nature of Mn2O3 nanorods. The purity level rGO was characterized using the Raman spectrum and the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy employed to find the functional groups. The morphological micrographs were visualized using SEM and TEM and the high aspect ratio Mn2O3 nanorods were observed with 5–7 nm and supported by rGO sheets. The electrocatalytic nature and corrosion properties of the counter electrode towards the iodide electrolyte were studied using a symmetrical cell. The as-synthesized nanocomposites were introduced as counter electrodes for DSSC and produced 4.11% of photoconversion efficiency with lower charge transfer resistance. The fabricated DSSC devices were undergone for stability tests for indoor and outdoor atmospheres, the DSSC stability showed 93% and 80% respectively for 150 days.

We present a practical vacuum pressure sensor based on the Schottky junction using graphene anchored on a vertically aligned zinc oxide nanorod (ZnO-NR). The constructed heterosystem of the Schottky junction showed characteristic rectifying behavior with a Schottky barrier height of 0.64 eV. The current–voltage (I–V) features of the Schottky junction were measured under various pressures between 1.0 × 103 and 1.0 × 10− 3 mbar. The maximum current of 38.17 mA for the Schottky junction was measured at – 4 V under 1.0 × 10− 3 mbar. The high current responses are larger than those of the previously reported vacuum pressure sensors based on ZnO nanobelt film, ZnO nanowires, and vertically aligned ZnO nanorod devices. The pressure-sensitive current increases with the vacuum pressure and reaches maximum sensitivity (78.76%) at 1.0 × 10− 3 mbar. The sensitivity and repeatability of the Schottky junction were studied by the current–time (I–T) behavior under variation of vacuum pressure. The sensing mechanism is debated from the surface charge transfer doping effect by oxygen chemisorption. The results suggest that this simple graphene/ZnO-NR Schottky junction device may have potential in the fabrication of vacuum pressure sensor with high sensitivity.