A novel poly(taurine) modified glassy carbon electrode for the simultaneous determination of epinephrine and dopamine

A novel taurine modified glassy carbon electrode was prepared by electropolymerization method. The electrochemical behaviors of epinephrine (EP) and dopamine (DA) at the modified electrode were studied by cyclic voltammetry. The modified electrode exhibited enhanced sensitivity and excellent electrochemical discrimination to DA and EP. The cathodic peaks of the two species were well-separated with a potential difference of about 390 mV, so the poly(taurine) modified electrode was used for simultaneous voltammetric measurement of EP and DA by differential pulse voltammetry. Under the optimum conditions, the cathodic peak currents were linear to concentrations of EP and DA in the range of 2.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 6.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ and 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 8.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹, respectively. The detection limits for EP and DA were 3.0 × 10⁻⁷ and 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹, respectively. Because the oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) is an irreversible reaction at modified electrode, the interference of AA for determining EP and DA was eliminated. The modified electrode has been satisfactorily used for the simultaneous determination of EP and DA in pharmaceutical injections.     

Enhanced sensitivity for Cu(II) by a salicylidine-functionalized polysiloxane carbon paste electrode

A new approach for decreasing the detection limit for a copper(II) ion-selective electrode (ISE) is presented. The ISE is designed using salicylidine-functionalized polysiloxane in carbon paste. This work describes the attempts to develop the electrode and measurements of its characteristics. The new type of renewable three-dimensional chemically modified electrode could be used in a pH range of 2.3–5.4, and its detection limit is 2.7 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ (1.2 μg L⁻¹). This sensor exhibits a good Nernstian slope of 29.4 ± 0.5 mV/decade in a wide linear concentration range of 2.3 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.0 × 10⁻³ mol L⁻¹ of Cu(II). It has a short response time (8 s) and noticeably high selectivity over other Cu(II) selective electrodes. Finally, it was satisfactorily used as an indicator electrode in complexometric titration with EDTA and determination of copper(II) in miscellaneous samples such as urine and various water samples.     

Application of Voltammetric Method of Total Chromium Determination in the Presence of Cupferron for Selective Determination of Cr(VI) in Water Samples

A voltammetric method of Cr(VI) determination in a flow system based on the combination of selective accumulation of the product of Cr(VI) reduction on hanging mercury drop electrode and a very sensitive method of chromium determination in the presence of cupferron previously described is proposed. The calibration graphs were linear from 3 × 10⁻⁹ to 3 × 10⁻⁸ and from 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ to 5 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹ for accumulation times of 120 and 600 s, respectively. The detection limit for the accumulation time of 600 s was 9 × 10⁻¹¹ mol L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation was 5.1% (n = 5) for Cr(VI) concentration 1 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ and the accumulation time of 120 s. The influence of foreign ions commonly present in water samples is presented. The validation of the method was made by studying the recovery of Cr(VI) from spiked natural water samples.     

Voltammetric determination of quercetin at a multi-walled carbon nanotubes paste electrode

Quercetin can effectively accumulate at multi-walled carbon nanotubes-paraffin oil paste electrodes (CNTPE) and cause a sensitive anodic peak at around 0.32 V (vs. SCE) in a 0.10 M phosphate buffer solution (pH = 4.0). Under optimized conditions, the anodic peak current is linear to quercetin concentration in the ranges of 2.0 × 10^− 9−1.0 × 10^− 7 M and 1.0 × 10^− 7−2.0 × 10^− 5 M, and the regression equations are i_p (μA) = 0.0017 + 0.928c (μM, r = 0.999) and i_p (μA) = 0.183 + 0.0731c (μM, r = 0.995), respectively. This paste electrode can be regenerated by repetitively cycling in a blank solution for about 2 min. A 1.0 × 10^− 6 M quercetin solution is measured for 10 times using the same electrode regenerated after every determination, and the relative standard deviation of the peak current is 1.7%. The method has been applied to the determination of quercetin in hydrolysate product of rutin and the recovery is 99.2–102.6%. In comparison with graphite paste electrode, carbon nanotubes-nujol paste electrode and carbon nanotubes casting film modified glassy carbon electrode, the CNTPE gives higher ratio of signal to background current and better defined voltammetric peak.     

Voltammetric study of the interaction of lomefloxacin (LMF)–Mg(II) complex with DNA and its analytical application

The voltammetric behavior of the LMF-Mg(II) complex with DNA at a mercury electrode is reported for the first time. In NH₃–NH₄Cl buffer (pH=9.10), the adsorption phenomena of the LMF–Mg(II) complex were observed by linear sweep voltammetry. The mechanism of the electrode reaction was found to be a reduction of LMF in the complex, and the composition of the LMF–Mg(II) complex is 2:1. In the presence of calf thymus DNA (ctDNA), the peak current of LMF–Mg(II) complex decreased considerably, and a new well-defined adsorptive reduction peak appeared at −1.63 V (vs. SCE). The electrochemical kinetic parameters and the binding number of LMF–Mg(II) with ctDNA were also obtained. Moreover, the new peak currents of LMF–Mg(II)–DNA system increased linearly correlated to the concentration of DNA in the 4.00×10⁻⁷–2.60×10⁻⁶ g ml⁻¹ range when the concentrations of LMF–Mg(II) complex was fixed at 5.00×10⁻⁶ mol l⁻¹, with the detection limits of 2.33×10⁻⁷ g ml⁻¹. An electrostatic interaction was suggested by electrochemical method.     

Modified glassy carbon electrode by electropolymerization of tetrakis-(2-aminopheny)porphyrin for the determination of norepinephrine in the presence of ascorbic acid

A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with electropolymerization of meso-tetrakis(2-aminophenyl)porphyrin (TAPP) in acetonitrile by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The voltammetric behavior of norepinephrine (NE) in the presence of excess ascorbic acid (AA) was investigated at the modified electrode by cyclic and square wave voltammetry (SWV) in phosphate buffer solution. The modified electrode gave higher selectivity and highly effective electroactivity to NE oxidation in voltammetric measurements of NE in the presence of AA and epinephrine. In pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solution, the peak current increased linearly with the concentration of NE in two concentration ranges of 1.0×10⁻⁶ to 5.0×10⁻⁵ mol dm⁻³.     

Voltammetric determination of hypoxanthine based on the enhancement effect of mesoporous TiO2-modified electrode

A mesoporous TiO₂ was synthesized according to the reported method, and then used to modify the carbon paste electrode (CPE). The electrochemical behavior of hypoxanthine was investigated with great detail. Compared with the unmodified CPE, the mesoporous TiO₂-modified CPE greatly enhances the oxidation signal of hypoxanthine. Due to huge surface area, well-defined and special mesopores, the mesoporous TiO₂-modified CPE shows considerable enhancement effect toward hypoxanthine. Based on this, a sensitive, rapid and convenient electrochemical method was developed for the determination of hypoxanthine. The linear range is over the range from 2.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 5.0 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹, and the limit of detection is estimated to be 5.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for 10 mesoporous TiO₂-modified CPEs is 5.7%. Finally, this sensing method was successfully used to determine hypoxanthine in human blood serum samples.     

Comparative studies on hydrolysis of bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate catalyzed by short- and long-alkyl-multiamine metallomicelles

Four short- and long-alkyl-multiamine ligands L¹–L⁴ have been synthesized and characterized. The catalytic efficiency of complex CuL¹ and functional metallomicelles CuL²–CuL⁴ were comparatively investigated for the hydrolysis of bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (BNPP) in buffered solution at 30 °C. The ternary kinetic model for metallomicellar catalysis was suggested to analyze the experimental data. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters k^′_N, K_T and pK_a were obtained. The results indicated that the complexes with 1:1 ratio of ligands L²–L⁴ to copper(II) ion were the kinetic active catalysts, and the deprotonized Cu(II) complex formed by activated water molecule was the real active species for BNPP catalytic hydrolysis. The real rate constant of the reaction catalyzed by CuL¹–CuL⁴ was 4.00 × 10⁻⁶, 7.44 × 10⁻⁵, 1.42 × 10⁻⁴ and 4.10 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, respectively. The effects of ligand and microenvironment on the hydrolytic reaction of BNPP have been discussed in detail.     

Simultaneous determination of hydroquinone and catechol at PASA/MWNTs composite film modified glassy carbon electrode

A poly-amidosulfonic acid and multi-wall carbon nanotubes composite (PASA/MWNTs) modified electrode has been constructed by electropolymerization on glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The electrochemical behaviors of hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC) were investigated using cyclic and differential pulse voltammetries (DPVs) at the prepared electrode. Separation of the reductive peak potentials for HQ and CC was about 120 mV in pH 6.0 phosphate buffer solution (PBS), which makes it suitable for simultaneous determination of these compounds. In the presence of 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ isomer, the reductive peak currents of DPV are proportional to the concentration of HQ in the range of 6.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 4.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹, and to that of CC in the range of 6.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 7.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹. When simultaneously changing the concentration of both HQ and CC, the linear concentration range of HQ (or CC) is 6.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ (or 6.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.8 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹), and the corresponding detection limits are 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹. The proposed method has been applied to simultaneous determination of HQ and catechol in water sample, and the results are satisfactory.     

Determination of 4-methylbenzilidene camphor in sunscreen by square wave voltammetry in media of cationic surfactant

The voltammetric behavior of 4-methylbenzelidene camphor (MBC) was studied by square wave voltammetry (SWV) using mercury electrode. The experimental condition that provided the highest peak current with the best reduction signal definition of MBC was found in Britton-Robinson buffer and cationic surfactants, cetyltrimethylammoniun bromide (CTABr). A single peak of MBC reduction was observed at − 1.21 V versus Ag/AgCl. The developed methodology was applied for determination of MBC in commercial sunscreen SPF 15, 20 and 30 and for the simultaneous determination when other protection agents were associated, such as benzophenone-3 (BENZO) and octyl methoxycinammate (OMC). Both methodologies had shown good determination values for the analyzed samples. The calculated detection limit was 2.99 × 10^− 9 mol L^− 1 and the quantification limit was 9.98 × 10^− 9 mol L^− 1.     

L-Cysteine-coated CdSe/CdS core-shell quantum dots as selective fluorescence probe for copper(II) determination

Quantum dots (QDs) or semiconductor nanocrystals have been receiving great interest in the last few years. In this paper, L-cysteine-coated CdSe/CdS core-shell QDs (λ_em = 585 nm) have been prepared, which have excellent water-solubility. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the photoluminescence of these nanocrystals is very narrow (about 30 nm), and the quantum yield (QY) is 15% relative to Rhodamine 6G in ethanol (QY = 95%). With excess free L-cysteine in the solution, the fluorescence intensity of L-cysteine-coated CdSe/CdS QDs showed improved stability. It was found that the fluorescence of L-cysteine-capped CdSe/CdS QDs could be quenched only by copper (II) ions and was insensitive to other physiologically important cations, such as Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Zn²⁺, Al³⁺, Fe³⁺, Mn²⁺ and Ni²⁺ etc. Based on this finding, the quantitative analysis of Cu²⁺ with L-cysteine-capped CdSe/CdS QDs has been established. The linear range was from 1.0 × 10^− 8 to 2.0 × 10^− 7 mol L^− 1 and the limit of detection (LOD) was 3.0 × 10^− 9 mol L^− 1 (S/N = 3). The proposed method has first been applied to the determination of Cu²⁺ in vegetable samples with recoveries of 99.6–105.8%.     

Electrochemical behavior and voltammetric determination of tryptophan based on 4-aminobenzoic acid polymer film modified glassy carbon electrode

Herein, a novel electrochemical method was developed for the determination of tryptophan based on the poly(4-aminobenzoic acid) film modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The electrochemical behaviors of tryptophan at the modified electrode were investigated. It was found that the oxidation peak current of tryptophan at the modified GCE was greatly improved compared with that at the bare GCE. The effects of supporting electrolyte, pH value, scan rate, accumulation potential and time were examined. The oxidation peak current of tryptophan was proportional to its concentration over the range from 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹. The limit of detection was evaluated to be 2.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. The proposed method was sensitive and simple. It was successfully employed to determine tryptophan in pharmaceutical samples.     

Electroanalysis of myoglobin and hemoglobin with a boron-doped diamond electrode

The electrochemical behavior of myoglobin (Mb) and hemoglobin (Hb) was investigated with a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode by cyclic voltammetry. In acetate buffer solutions, the oxygen reduction at the BDD electrode showed a very high overpotential while the reduction of Mb or Hb was observed in the more positive potential region. Owing to the electrocatalytic reaction of O₂ and the participation of H⁺ following the electrochemical reduction of ferric proteins, the voltammetric responses for Mb and Hb on the BDD electrode in the negative going scans became remarkable in acidic buffer solutions in air. The peak current was linearly proportional to the concentration of Mb in the range 1×10⁻⁶–2×10⁻⁵ M or the concentration of Hb from 1×10⁻⁶ to 1×10⁻⁵ M.     

Sensitive detection of potassium ion using Prussian blue nanotube sensor

A model K⁺ sensor using Prussian blue nanotubes is fabricated by electrochemical deposition of Prussian blue (PB) within the nanochannels of a porous metal-coated membrane with partially covered pore openings. The PB nanotube sensor exhibits excellent stability giving reproducible peak potentials up to 500 measurement cycles, a very low detection limit of 2.0 × 10⁻⁸ M and extremely wide logarithmic linear ranges between 5.0 × 10⁻⁸–7.0 × 10⁻⁴ M and 7.0 × 10⁻⁴–1.0 M. Negligible interferences by Na⁺, Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ are observed and a rapid analysis time of 30 s is readily achieved. The ease of electrodeposition, high stability of PB nanotubes and outstanding analytical performance which surpasses conventional PB voltammetric and potentiometric sensors demonstrates potential sensing applications including ion sensors and biosensors using PB and other metal hexacyanoferrate nanotubes.     

An electropolymerized Nile Blue sensing film-based nitrite sensor and application in food analysis

This paper reports a poly-Nile Blue (PNB) sensing film based electrochemical sensor and the application in food analysis as a possible alternative for electrochemical detection of nitrite. The PNB-modified electrode in the sensor was prepared by in situ electropolymerization of Nile Blue at a prepolarized glassy carbon (GC) electrode and then characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and pulse voltammetry in phosphate buffer (pH 7.1). Several key operational parameters affecting the electrochemical response of PNB sensing film were examined and optimized, such as polarization time, PNB film thickness and electrolyte pH values. As the electroactive PNB sensing film provides plenty of active sites for anodic oxidation of nitrite, the nitrite sensor exhibited high performance including high sensitivity, low detection limit, simple operation and good stability at the optimized conditions. The nitrite sensor revealed good linear behavior in the concentration range from 5.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ for the quantitative analysis of nitrite anion with a limit of detection of 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. Finally, the application in food analysis using sausage as testing samples was investigated and the results were consistent with those obtained by standard spectrophotometric method.     

Palladized aluminum electrode covered by Prussian blue film as an effective transducer for electrocatalytic oxidation and hydrodynamic amperometry of N-acetyl-cysteine and glutathione

The mediated oxidation of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and glutathione (GL) at the palladized aluminum electrode modified by Prussian blue film (PB/Pd–Al) is described. The catalytic activity of PB/Pd–Al was explored in terms of Fe^III[Fe^III(CN)₆]/Fe^III[Fe^II(CN)₆]¹⁻ system by taking advantage of the metallic palladium layer inserted between PB film and Al, as an electron-transfer bridge. The best mediated oxidation of NAC and GL on the PB/Pd–Al electrode was achieved in 0.5 M KNO₃ + 0.2 M potassium acetate of pH 2. The mechanism and kinetics of the catalytic oxidation reactions of the both compounds were monitored by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The charge transfer-rate limiting step as well as overall oxidation reaction of NAC or GL is found to be a one-electron abstraction. The values of transfer coefficients α, catalytic rate constant k and diffusion coefficient D are 0.5, 3.2 × 10² M⁻¹ s⁻¹ and 2.45 × 10⁻⁵ cm² s⁻¹ for NAC and 0.5, 2.1 × 10² M⁻¹ s⁻¹ and 3.7 × 10⁻⁵ cm² s⁻¹ for GL, respectively. The modifying layers on the Pd–Al substrate have reproducible behavior and a high level of stability in the electrolyte solutions. The modified electrode is exploited for hydrodynamic amperometry of NAC and GL. The amperometric calibration graph is linear in concentration ranges 2 × 10⁻⁶–40 × 10⁻⁶ for NAC and 5 × 10⁻⁷–18 × 10⁻⁶ M for GL and the detection limits are 5.4 × 10⁻⁷ and 4.6 × 10⁻⁷ M, respectively.     

Studies on the kinetics of ascorbate oxidation at a ruthenium oxide hexacyanoferrate modified electrode towards the detection at microenvironments

The electrocatalytic oxidation of ascorbate on a ruthenium oxide hexacyanoferrate (RuOHCF) glassy carbon (GC) modified electrode was investigated at pH 6.9 by using rotating disc electrode (RDE) voltammetry. The influence of the systematic variation of rotation rate, film thickness, ascorbate concentration and the electrode potential indicated that the rate of cross-chemical reaction between Ru(III) centres immobilized into the film and ascorbate controls the overall process. The kinetic regime may be classified as a Sk″ mechanism and the second order rate constant for the surface electrocatalytic reaction was found to be 1.56 × 10⁻³ mol⁻¹ L¹ s⁻¹ cm. A carbon fibre microelectrode modified with the RuOHCF film was successfully used as an amperometric sensor to monitor the ascorbate diffusion in a simulated microenvironment experiment.     

Improvement of alternariol monomethyl ether detection at gold electrodes modified with a dodecanethiol self-assembled monolayer

The electro-oxidation of alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), one of the main metabolites of the Alternaria genus mycotoxins, is studied at 1-dodecanethiol (DDT)-modified gold electrodes, in acetonitrile (ACN) – aqueous phosphate buffer solutions of different pH values, by using cyclic (CV) and square-wave (SWV) voltammetries. The AME voltammetric response at the bare electrode suffers from two drawbacks: it appears at potentials close to the onset of gold oxide formation, and it is hampered by a fouling of the electrode surface due to the accumulation of oxidized products. These shortcomings are circumvented by the use of DDT-coated electrodes, since the intervening monolayer inhibits gold oxide formation and surface passivation by the electrochemical products, without affecting the oxidation kinetics of AME significantly. Diagnostic criteria based on the voltammetric peak parameters show that the electrochemical behavior of AME at the modified electrode is mainly controlled by reactant diffusion from solution, with a weak adsorption of both the mycotoxin and its oxidation products at monolayer defects. Calibration curves were constructed from the AME square-wave voltammetric response and a detection limit of 9.1 × 10⁻⁸ mol dm⁻³ was determined, which is about three times smaller than a previous estimate at platinum and glassy carbon electrodes, and about fifty times smaller than the limit derived from measurements carried out at a polyphenol oxidase-modified carbon paste electrode.     

Kinetic determination of organosulphur ligands by inhibition: Trace determination of cysteine and maleonitriledithiolate (MNDT)

Some organosulphur ligands have been found to inhibit the mercury(II) catalyzed substitution of cyanide in hexacyanoferrate(II) by N-methylpyrazinium ion (Mpz⁺). The inhibitory effect is due to the binding tendency of catalyst Hg²⁺ with these inhibitors. This effect has been used as a basis to develop a kinetic method for the determination of trace amounts of two organosulphur ligands viz. cysteine and MNDT. The reaction was followed spectrophotometrically at 655 nm by measuring the decrease in absorbance of the product [Fe(CN)₅Mpz]²⁻. The influence of the reaction variables has also been studied. A general mechanistic scheme of the indicator reaction system including the role of inhibitor has been proposed and applied to determine the organosulphur ligands. Under the selected experimental conditions cysteine and MNDT have been determined in the range of 2–20 × 10^− 7 M and 5 × 10^− 8 M to 12 × 10^− 7 M respectively in various aqueous samples. The analytical concentration range depends upon the amount of Hg²⁺ present in the indicator reaction and also on the stability of the Hg²⁺-inhibitor complex in question. Under specified conditions, the detection limit for cysteine and MNDT are 2 × 10^− 7 M and 5 × 10^− 8 M respectively. The influences of possible interference by major amino acids, on the determination of cysteine and their limits have been investigated.     

Studies on Intramolecular Charge Transfer Fluorescence Probe and DNA Binding Characteristics

An intramolecular charge transfer fluorescence probe of 4′-N,N-dimethylamino-4-amino-chalcone(DMAC) exhibits characteristics clearly correlated with the polarity of solvents. The interaction of this fluorescence probe with calf thymus DNA has been investigated. Generally, DMAC bound to DNA shows marked changes in fluorescence and absorbance properties compared to the spectral characteristics of the free form in solution phase. In the presence of DNA the fluorescence intensity of DMAC is greatly increased with a large bathochromic shift of excitation and emission wavelengths. A hypochromism in absorption spectrum was also observed. The absorption and fluorescence spectra, salt concentration effect, and KI quenching experiments demonstrate that DMAC molecule as an intercalator is inserted into the base-stacking domain of DNA double helix, and the interaction of the nucleobases with DMAC molecule causes the increase of fluorescence intensity and hypochromism in absorption spectrum. The intrinsic binding constant and the binding site number were estimated to be 7.04 × 10⁶ mol L⁻¹ in base pairs and 0.065, respectively. The I/I₀ vs DNA concentration plot shows a linear range covering 1.98 × 10⁻⁶ to 2.08 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ in base pairs which can be used for determining DNA with a detection limit of 6.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹ in base pairs (0.6 μg ml⁻¹).