Space-confined synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbon doped with single-layer MoS2–boron for the voltammetric determination of theophylline

A space-confined synthesis method is employed for the preparation of a single-layer MoS 2 –boron doped ordered mesoporous carbon nanocomposite. A phenol-formaldehyde resin is used as carbon source to create a confined space for the formation of single-layer MoS 2 . The addition of pluronic F127, as... Full description

A space-confined synthesis method is employed for the preparation of a single-layer MoS 2 –boron doped ordered mesoporous carbon nanocomposite. A phenol-formaldehyde resin is used as carbon source to create a confined space for the formation of single-layer MoS 2 . The addition of pluronic F127, as a soft template, suppresses the stacking of MoS 2 layers and makes the composite porous. The nanocomposite is characterized by scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The single-layer MoS 2 sheets have a lateral size of about 5 nm and are uniformly embedded in the composite. They possess numerous active edge sites and display a strong synergistic effect with other components. The composite is modified on a glassy carbon electrode, followed by the electrochemical imprinting of theophylline, and the resulting electrode exhibits good electrochemical response to theophylline. The linear response range is 0.01–250 μM by differential pulse voltammetry, and the lower detection limit is 5 nM. It has been successfully applied to the determination of theophylline in spiked tea drink samples. Graphical abstract Single-layer MoS 2 –boron doped ordered mesoporous carbon nanocomposite has large surface area and high catalysis, when coupling with molecularly imprinted polymer the resulting electrode shows highly sensitive and selective response to theophylline.