Silver nanoparticles synthesized using Eucalyptus salmonophloia essential oil as potential electrode material for the electrochemical sensing of dopamine

In this paper, a low cost-effective and eco-friendly technique for the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using essential oil (EEO) extracted from fresh leaves of Eucalyptus salmonophloia, is described. The biosynthesized AgNPs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), UV–Visible spectroscopy, FT-IR and XPS analysis, to analyze the morphology and the optical properties. A modified screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) with AgNPs was then fabricated as an electrochemical sensor for dopamine (DA) detection, an important neurotransmitter in the human body. The proposed AgNPs/SPCE sensor showed excellent performances in terms of high sensitivity (6.656 µAµM−1cm−2), low detection limit (0.26 µM), and a high selectivity towards DA in the presence of other interferent analytes. The sensor was also applied for the determination of DA in a real sample. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using essential oil from E. salmonophloia as a reducing agent for the synthesis noble nanoparticles and its application to develop a simple and accurate electrochemical sensor for the detection of DA.