LAUSR

Abstract We investigated a facile method for producing conductive polymer composites for the construction of microelectrodes already integrated into microsystems, as promising for microfluidic application. The porous morphology, high conductivity and large surface area of the composites which in turn influences its electrochemical performance can be simultaneously achieved by optimizing the composition and nanostructure of the conductive material and polymer. Three different carbon materials (i.e. graphite, graphene, carbon nanofibers) were combined with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer and all the subsequent carbon-PMMA composites were assessed electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry in the presence of ferrocyanide as a model redox analyte. The results indicated that graphite was well dispersed and incorporated throughout the composite to form a highly electrically conductive network that proved to be even better than the graphene sheets and carbon nanofibers. In order to demonstrate the ease of composite fabrication with tailored properties for intended analytical applications, the optimal graphite-PMMA composite was further investigated to incorporate Prussian blue, as a model mediator for H2O2 detection.