Biomolecule-Free, Selective Detection of o-Diphenol and Its Derivatives with WS2/TiO2-Based Photoelectrochemical Platform

Herein, a novel photoelectrochemical platform with WS2/TiO2 composites as optoelectronic materials was designed for selective detection of o-diphenol and its derivatives without any biomolecule auxiliary. First, catechol was chosen as a model compound for the discrimination from resorcinol and hydroquinone; then several o-diphenol derivatives such as dopamine, caffeic acid, and catechin were also detected by employing this proposed photoelectrochemical sensor. Finally, the mechanism of such a selective detection has been elaborately explored. The excellent selectivity and high sensitivity should be attributed to two aspects: (i) chelate effect of adjacent double oxygen atoms in the o-diphenol with the Ti(IV) surface site to form a five/six-atom ring structure, which is considered as the key point for distinction and selective detection. (ii) This selected WS2/TiO2 composites with proper band level between WS2 and TiO2, which could make the photogenerated electron and hole easily separated and results in great improvement of sensitivity. By employing such a photoelectrochemical platform, practical samples including commercial clinic drugs and human urine samples have been successfully performed for dopamine detection. This biomolecule-free WS2/TiO2 based photoelectrochemical platform demonstrates excellent stability, reproducibility, remarkably convenient, and cost-effective advantages, as well as low detection limit (e.g., 0.32 μmol L(-1) for dopamine). It holds great promise to be applied for detection of o-diphenol kind species in environment and food fields.