Graphdiyne: A Chelating Carbon for High Selectivity Direct Electrochemical Sensing of Trace Copper Ions

Abstract

Graphdiyne (GDY), an emerging type of carbon allotropes with unique sp−sp2 carbon atoms, is firstly explored for high selectivity direct electrochemical sensing of ultra‐trace level copper ions (Cu2+). It achieves a wide detection range of 0.25–380 μM and a trace level as low as 8 nM, among the best performance of reported carbon‐based sensors. It is found that GDY with unique C≡C possesses both chelating and reducing abilities to efficiently anchor and reduce Cu2+ to Cu+, eventually leading to ultrasensitive detection.