Abstract
Serotonin is a very important monoamine neurotransmitter, which takes part in biological and psychological processes. In the present scenario, design and fabrication of a serotonin electrochemical sensor is of great significance. In this study, we have synthesized α-MnO
2
via a hydrothermal synthesis method using potassium permanganate as a precursor. The physiochemical properties, such as structural and phase-purity of the prepared α-MnO
2
, were investigated by various characterization techniques and methods (powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy). Furthermore, the serotonin sensor was fabricated using α-MnO
2
as an electrode modifier or electro-catalyst. The bare glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was adopted as a working substrate, and its active carbon surface was modified with the synthesized α-MnO
2
. This modified GCE (
α-MnO
2
/GCE = MGCE
) was explored as a serotonin sensor. The electrochemical investigations showed that the
MGCE
has excellent electro-catalytic properties towards determination of serotonin. The
MGCE
exhibits an excellent detection limit (DL) of 0.14 µM, along with good sensitivity of 2.41 µAµM
−1
cm
−2
. The
MGCE
also demonstrated excellent selectivity for determination of serotonin in the presence of various electro-active/interfering molecules. The
MGCE
also exhibits good cyclic repeatability, stability, and storage stability.