Facile synthesis of Au-embedded porous carbon from metal-organic frameworks and for sensitive detection of acetaminophen in pharmaceutical products.

Here we report an Au nanoparticles supported on nanostructured porous carbon (NPCs) hybrid through a coordination-assisted strategy. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been demonstrated as suitable precursors for preparing NPCs through the impregnation of a secondary carbon source within pores of MOFs. The thermal transformation of Au/UiO-66-NH2 composites in an inert atmosphere has yielded ultrafine Au-embedded NPCs (Au/NPCs). The formation of these composite materials was verified by a comprehensive characterization using X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Because of the unique structural properties and synergetic catalytic effect, Au/NPCs can be developed as an effective sensing platform for the detection of acetaminophen (AP), which showed high activity and excellent analytical performance towards AP, such as a wide linear range of 0.12-95.10 μM, a high sensitivity of 357.62 μA mM-1, and a low limit of detection of 49.4 nM. Importantly, the successfully fabricated Au/NPCs device accurately measured the amount of AP in pharmaceutical samples.