Single-Atom Ruthenium Biomimetic Enzyme for Simultaneous Electrochemical Detection of Dopamine and Uric Acid

Single-atom catalysts have attracted numerous attention due to the high utilization of metallic atoms, abundant active sites, and highly catalytic activities. Herein, a single-atom ruthenium biomimetic enzyme (Ru-Ala-C₃N₄) is prepared by dispersing Ru atoms on a carbon nitride support for the simultaneous electrochemical detection of dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA), which are coexisting important biological molecules involving in many physiological and pathological aspects. The morphology and elemental states of the single-atom Ru catalyst are studied by transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray elemental mapping, high-angle annular dark field-scanning transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results show that Ru atoms atomically disperse throughout the C₃N₄ support by Ru-N chemical bonds. The electrochemical characterizations indicate that the Ru-Ala-C₃N₄ biosensor can simultaneously detect the oxidation of DA and UA with a separation of peak potential of 180 mV with high sensitivity and excellent selectivity. The calibration curves for DA and UA range from 0.06 to 490 and 0.5 to 2135 μM with detection limits of 20 and 170 nM, respectively. Moreover, the biosensor was applied to detect DA and UA in real biological serum samples using the standard addition method with satisfactory results.