Abstract:The morphology or shape of nanomaterials plays an important role in functional applications, especially in the electrochemical sensing performance of nanocomposites modified electrodes. Herein, the morphology-dependent electrochemical sensing properties of MnO 2 -reduced graphene oxide/glass carbon electrode (MnO 2 -RGO/GCE) toward dopamine detection were investigated. Firstly, various morphologies of nanoscale MnO 2 , including MnO 2 nanowires (MnO 2 NWs), MnO 2 nanorods (MnO 2 NRs), and MnO 2 nanotubes (MnO 2 NTs), were synthesized under different hydrothermal conditions. Then the corresponding MnO 2 -RGO/GCEs were fabricated via drop-casting and the subsequent electrochemical reduction method. The oxidation peak currents increase with the electrochemical activity area following the order of MnO 2 NWs-RGO/GCE, MnO 2 NTs-RGO/GCE, and MnO 2 NRs-RGO/GCE. The spatial models for MnO 2 NWs, MnO 2 NTs, and MnO 2 NRs are established and accordingly compared by their specific surface area, explaining well the evident difference in electrochemical responses. Therefore, the MnO 2 NWs-RGO/GCE is selected for dopamine detection due to its better electrochemical sensing performance. The response peak current is found to be linear with dopamine concentration in the range of 8.0 × 10 −8 mol/L-1.0 × 10 −6 mol/L and 1.0 × 10 −6 mol/L-8.0 × 10 −5 mol/L with a lower detection limit of 1 × 10 −9 mol/L (S/N = 3). Finally, MnO 2 NWs-RGO/GCE is successfully used for the determination of dopamine injection samples, with a recovery of 99.6-103%. These findings are of great significance for understanding the relationship between unlimited nanoparticle structure manipulation and performance improvement.