Graphene Functionalized Graphite Electrode with Diphenylacetylene for Sensitive Electrochemical Determination of Adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate

In this paper a molecular wire modified carbon paste electrode (MW‐CPE) was firstly prepared by mixing graphite powder with diphenylacetylene (DPA). Then a graphene (GR) and chitosan (CTS) composite film was further modified on the surface of MW‐CPE to receive the graphene functionalized electrode (CTS‐GR/MW‐CPE), which was used for the sensitive electrochemical detection of adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate (ATP). The CTS‐GR/MW‐CPE exhibited excellent electrochemical performance and the electrochemical behavior of ATP on the CTS‐GR/MW‐CPE was carefully studied by cyclic voltammetry with an irreversible oxidation peak appearing at 1.369 V (vs. SCE). The electrochemical parameters such as charge transfer coefficient (α) and electrode reaction standard rate constant (k_s) were calculated with the results of 0.53 and 5.28×10^?6 s^?1, respectively. By using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) as detection technique, the oxidation peak current showed good linear relationship with ATP concentration in the range from 1.0 nM to 700.0 µM with a detection limit of 0.342 nM (3σ). The common coexisting substances, such as uric acid, ascorbic acid and guanosine‐5′‐triphosphate (GTP), showed no interferences and the modified electrode was successfully applied to injection sample detection.     

Electrochemical Behaviours and Detection of Adenosine‐5¢‐triphosphate on an Ionic Liquid Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

In this paper a new electrochemical method based on the ionic liquid modified carbon paste electrode (IL‐CPE) was proposed for the determination of adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate (ATP) in a pH 4.5 Britton‐Robinson (B‐R) buffer solution. IL‐CPE was prepared by using 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium trifluoroacetate (BMIMCF₃COO) as the modifier. Cyclic voltammetry was used to investigate the electrochemical behaviors of ATP on the IL‐CPE, and the results indicated that IL‐CPE exhibited strong electrocatalytic ability to promote the oxidation of ATP with a single well‐defined irreversible adsorption‐controlled oxidation peak appeared. The electrochemical reaction parameters of ATP were calculated with the results of the electron transfer coefficient (α) as 0.40, the electron transfer number (n) as 1.17, the apparent heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (ks) as 3.66 × 10^‐6 s^‐1 and the surface coverage (Γ_τ) as 2.48 × 10^‐9 mol cm^‐2. Under the selected conditions the proposed IL‐CPE showed good performances to the ATP detection in the concentration range from 0.1 to 1000.0 μmol L^‐1 with the detection limit as 3.65 × 10^‐8 mol L^‐1 (3σ) by differential pulse voltammetry. The method showed good selectivity to the ATP detection without the interferences of coexisting substances and was successfully applied to the ATP injection samples detection with satisfactory results.     

Electrochemical Oxidative Detection of Guanosine‐5′‐triphosphate Based on a New Ionic Liquid Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

An ionic liquid (IL) 1‐(3‐chloro‐2‐hydroxy‐propyl)‐3‐methylimidazolium trifluoroacetate was used as the modifier for the preparation of the modified carbon paste electrode (CPE). The IL‐CPE showed excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of guanosine‐5′‐triphosphate (5′‐GTP) in a pH 5.0 Britton‐Robinson buffer solution. Due to the presence of high conductive IL on the electrode surface, the electrooxidation of 5′‐GTP was greatly promoted with a single well‐defined irreversible oxidation peak appeared. The electrode reaction was an adsorption‐controlled process and the electrochemical parameters of 5′‐GTP on IL‐CPE were calculated with the electron transfer coefficient (α) as 0.44, the electron transfer number (n) as 1.99, the apparent heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (k_s) as 2.21 × 10^?9 s^?1 and the surface coverage (Γ_T) as 1.53 × 10^?10 mol cm^?2. Under the selected conditions a linear calibration curve between the oxidation peak currents and 5′‐GTP concentration was obtained in the range from 2.0 to 1000.0 μmol L^?1 with the detection limit as 0.049 μmol L^?1 (3σ) by differential pulse voltammetry. The proposed method showed good selectivity to the 5‘‐GTP detection without the interferences of coexisting substances and the practical application was checked by measurements of the artificial samples.     

Fullerene‐β‐Cyclodextrin Conjugate Based Electrochemical Sensing Device for Ultrasensitive Detection of p‐Nitrophenol

The article describes the use of a fullerene (C₆₀)‐β‐cyclodextrin conjugate, synthesized via 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition, for the ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of p‐nitrophenol. This conjugate was successfully immobilized on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode and the developed device showed high activity towards p‐nitrophenol due to the synergetic effect of C₆₀, the latter becoming highly conductive upon reduction. The determination of p‐nitrophenol was performed by using square wave voltammetry over a concentration range from 2.8×10^?9 mol L^?1 to 4.2×10^?7 mol L^?1 and the detection limit was calculated to be 1.2×10^?9 mol L^?1.     

Magnetite NPs@C with Highly‐Efficient Peroxidase‐Like Catalytic Activity as an Improved Biosensing Strategy for Selective Glucose Detection

This work reports the novel application of carbon‐coated magnetite nanoparticles (mNPs@C) as catalytic nanomaterial included in a composite electrode material (mNPs@C/CPE) taking advantages of their intrinsic peroxidase‐like activity. The nanostructured electrochemical transducer reveals an enhancement of the charge transfer for redox processes involving hydrogen peroxide. Likewise, mNPs@C/CPE demonstrated to be highly selective even at elevated concentrations of ascorbic acid and uric acid, the usual interferents of blood glucose analysis. Upon these remarkable results, the composite matrix was further modified by the addition of glucose oxidase as biocatalyst, in order to obtain a biosensing strategy (GOx/mNPs@C/CPE) with enhanced properties for the electrochemical detection of glucose. GOx/mNPs@C/CPE exhibit a linear range up to 7.5×10^?3 mol L^?1 glucose, comprising the entirely physiological range and incipient pathological values. The average sensitivity obtained at ?0.100 V was (1.62±0.05)×10⁵ nA L mol^?1 (R²=0.9992), the detection limit was 2.0×10^?6 M while the quantification limit was 6.1×10^?6 mol L^?1. The nanostructured biosensor demonstrated to have an excellent performance for glucose detection in human blood serum even for pathological values.     

Evaluation of the Oxo‐bridged Dinuclear Ruthenium Ammine Complex as Redox Mediator in an Electrochemical Biosensor

The mediation of electron‐transfer by oxo‐bridged dinuclear ruthenium ammine [(bpy)₂(NH₃)Ru^III(µ‐O)Ru^III(NH₃)(bpy)₂]⁴⁺ for the oxidation of glucose was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. These ruthenium (III) complexes exhibit appropriate redox potentials of 0.131–0.09 V vs. SCE to act as electron‐transfer mediators. The plot of anodic current vs. the glucose concentration was linear in the concentration range between 2.52×10^?5 and 1.00×10^?4 mol L^?1. Moreover, the apparent Michaelis‐Menten kinetic (K_M^app) and the catalytic (K_cat) constants were 8.757×10^?6 mol L^?1 and 1,956 s^?1, respectively, demonstrating the efficiency of the ruthenium dinuclear oxo‐complex [(bpy)₂(NH₃)Ru^III(µ‐O)Ru^III(NH₃)(bpy)₂]⁴⁺ as mediator of redox electron‐transfer.     

Electrochemical Determination of Ascorbic Acid in Room Temperature Ionic Liquid BPPF6 Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

A room temperature ionic liquid N‐butylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate (BPPF₆) was used as a binder to make an ionic liquid modified carbon paste electrode (IL‐CPE), which showed good characteristics such as simple preparation procedure, fast electrochemical response and good conductivity. The electrochemical oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) on the new IL‐CPE was carefully studied. The oxidation peak potential of AA on the IL‐CPE appeared at 109 mV (vs. SCE), which was about 338 mV decrease of the overpotential compared to that obtained on the traditional carbon paste electrode (CPE) and the oxidation peak current was increased for about four times. The electrochemical parameters of AA on the IL‐CPE were calculated with the charge transfer coefficient (α) and the electrode reaction rate constant (k_s) as 0.87 and 0.800 s^?1, respectively. Based on the relationship of the oxidation peak current and the concentration of AA a sensitive analytical method was established with cyclic voltammetry. The linear range for AA determination was in the range from 1.0×10^?5 to 3.0×10^?3 mol/L with the linear regression equation as I_p (μA)=?2.52–0.064C (μmol/L) (n=13, γ=0.9942) and the detection limit was calculated as 8.0×10^?6 mol/L (3σ). The proposed method was free of the interferences of coexisting substances such as dopamine (DA) and amino acids etc., and successfully applied to the vitamin C tablets determination.     

Enhanced Electrocatalytic Reduction of Oxadiargyl and Its Determination on 2‐(4‐((4‐Acetylphenyl)diazenyl)phenylamino)‐ethanol Modified Graphene‐Paste Electrode

The electrochemical behavior of oxadiargyl at a graphene‐paste electrode modified with an azo dye, 2‐(4‐((4‐acetylphenyl)diazenyl)phenylamino)ethanol (ADPE), ADPE/MGRPE was investigated. The modified electrode showed high electrocatalytic activity toward oxadiargyl. The apparent electron transfer rate constant (k_s) and charge transfer coefficient (α) between electrode and ADPE were 1.16 s^?1 and 0.41, respectively. The differential pulse voltammetry response of the modified graphene‐paste electrode was linear against the concentration of oxadiargyl in the range from 0.03 to 1.4 mg L^?1. The limit of detection was found to be 1.3 µg L^?1 (S/N=3). The practical analytical utility of this electrode was demonstrated by measurement of oxadiargyl in river water, soil and rice samples.     

Application of a 1‐benzyl‐4‐ferrocenyl‐1H‐[1,2,3]‐triazole/carbon nanotube modified glassy carbon electrode for voltammetric determination of hydrazine in water samples

The electrochemical behaviour of hydrazine at a 1‐benzyl‐4‐ferrocenyl‐1H‐[1,2,3]‐triazole‐triazole/carbon nanotube modified glassy carbon electrode has been studied. The modified electrode shows an excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of hydrazine and accelerates electron transfer rate. The electrocatalytic current increases linearly with hydrazine concentration in the range 0.5–700.0 μm and the detection limit for hydrazine was 33.0 ± 2.0 nm . The diffusion coefficient (D = 2.5 ± 0.1 × 10^?5 cm² s^?1) and kinetic parameters such as the electron transfer coefficient, (α = 0.52) and the heterogeneous rate constant (k′ = 5.5 ± 0.1 × 10^?3 cm s^?1) for hydrazine were determined using electrochemical approaches. Finally, the method was employed for the determination of hydrazine in water samples. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Direct Electrochemistry and Electrocatalysis of Hemoglobin/ZnO‐Chitosan/nano‐Au Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

The highly efficient H₂O₂ biosensor was fabricated on the basis of the complex films of hemoglobin (Hb), nano ZnO, chitosan (CHIT) dispersed solution and nano Au immobilized on glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Biocompatible ZnO‐CHIT composition provided a suitable microenvironment to keep Hb bioactivity (Michaelis‐Menten constant of 0.075 mmol L^?1). The presence of nano Au in matrix could effectively enhance electron transfer between Hb and electrode. The electrochemical behaviors and effects of solution pH values were carefully examined in this paper. The (ZnO‐CHIT)‐Au‐Hb/GCE demonstrated excellently electrocatalytical ability for H₂O₂. This biosensor had a fast response to H₂O₂ less than 4 s and excellent linear relationships were obtained in the concentration range from1.94×10^?7 to 1.73×10^?3 mol L^?1 with the detection limit of 9.7×10^?8 mol L^?1 (S/N=3) under the optimum conditions. Moreover, the stability and reproducibility of this biosensor were evaluated with satisfactory results.     

Electrochemical Properties of Th(IV)‐Hexacyanoferrate Sol‐Gel Carbon Composite Electrode: Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Dopamine and Ascorbic Acid

A new sol‐gel carbon composite electrode using hexacyanoferrate (HCF)‐Th(IV) ion pair as a suitable modifier is fabricated in the present study. The Th(IV)‐HCF‐sol‐gel carbon composite electrode (THCF‐CCE) has been prepared by mixing methyl trimethoxysilan (MTMOS) sol‐gel precursor and carbon powder with ion pair and then to fix in a plastic tube. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry were employed to study the electrochemical and electrocatalytic properties of proposed electrode. The apparent charge transfer rate constant, k_s, and transfer coefficient, α, for electron transfer between ion‐pair and sol‐gel CPE were calculated as 3.10 ± 0.10 s^?1 and 0.52, respectively. The THCF‐CCE showed a significant electrocatalytic activity towards oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) and dopamine (DA) in 0.1 M acidic phosphate buffer solutions (pH 3) containing KCl as a supporting electrolyte. The mean value of the diffusion coefficients for ascorbic acid and dopamine were found 4.12 × 10^?5 and 4.43 × 10^?5 (cm²s^?1), respectively. High stability, good reproducibility, rapid response, easy surface regeneration and fabrication are the important characteristics of the proposed sensor. The resulting peaks from the electrocatalytic oxidation of AA and DA were well resolved with good sensitivity. A linear response was observed for AA and DA in the concentration range of 1 × 10^?5 to 3 × 10^?3 M and 4 × 10^?6 to 2.2 × 10^?4 M, respectively.     

Voltammetry of Dissolved Iron(III)–Nitrilotriacetate–Hydroxide System in Water Solution

The investigation of the dissolved iron(III)–nitrilotriacetate–hydroxide system in the water solution (I=0.1 mol L^?1 in NaClO₄; pH 8.0±0.1) using differential pulse cathodic voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, and sampled direct current (DC) polarography, was carried out on a static mercury drop electrode (SMDE). The dissolved iron(III) ion concentrations varied from 2.68×10^?6 to 6×10^?4 mol L^?1 and nitrilotriacetate concentrations were 1×10^?4 and 5×10^?4 mol L^?1. By deconvoluting of the overlapped reduction voltammetric peaks using Fourier transformation, four relatively stable, dissolved iron(III) complex species were characterized, as follows: [Fe(NTA)₂]^3?, mixed ligand complexes [FeOHNTA]^? and [Fe(OH)₂NTA]^2?, showing a one‐electron quasireversible reduction, and binuclear diiron(III) complex [NTAFeOFeNTA]^2?, detected above 4×10^?4 mol L^?1 of the added iron(III) ions, showing a one‐electron irreversible reduction character. The calculations with the constants from the literature were done and compared with the potential shifts of the voltammetric peaks. Fitting was obtained by changing the following literature constants: log β₂([Fe(NTA)₂]^3?) from 24 to 27.2, log β₁([FeNTA]^?) from 8.9 to 9.2, log β₂([Fe(NTA)₂]^4?) from 11.89 to 15.7 and log β₂([Fe(OH)₂NTA]^3?) from 15.63 to 19. The determination of the electrochemical parameters of the mixed ligand complex [FeOHNTA]^?, such as: transfer coefficient (α), rate constant (k_s) and formal potential (E°') was done using a sampled DC polarography, and found to be 0.46±0.05, 1.0±0.3×10^?3 cm s^?1, and ?0.154±0.010 V, respectively. Although known previously in the literature, these four species have now for the first time been recorded simultaneously, i.e. proved to exist simultaneously under the given conditions.     

Nanostructured Alpha‐Nickel Hydroxide Electrodes for High Performance Hydrogen Peroxide Sensing

Nanostructured alpha‐nickel hydroxide (α‐Ni(OH)₂) immobilized on a Fluorine‐doped Tin Oxide (FTO) surface was explored for the construction of hydrogen peroxide amperometric Flow Injection Analysis (FIA) sensors. Their notable electrocatalytic activity and heterogeneous electron‐transfer rate were confirmed by the appearance of a broad and intense peak associated with the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide and the enhancement of sensibility in hydrodynamic conditions. The α‐Ni(OH)₂ electrodes exhibited a broad dynamic range (5×10^?6 to 1×10^?3 mol L^?1), low detection limit (2×10^?7 mol L^?1), good repeatability (RSD=1.29 % for 20 successive analyses), and a sensitivity greater than 500 µA mmol^?1 L^?1 cm^?2.     

Fabrication and Electrochemical Behavior of Hemoglobin Modified Carbon Ionic Liquid Electrode

A new hemoglobin (Hb) and room temperature ionic liquid modified carbon paste electrode was constructed by mixing Hb with 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF₆) and graphite powder together. The Hb modified carbon ionic liquid electrode (Hb‐CILE) was further characterized by FT‐IR spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Hb in the carbon ionic liquid electrode remained its natural structure and showed good direct electrochemical behaviors. A pair of well‐defined quasireversible redox peaks appeared with the apparent standard potential (E′) as ?0.334 (vs. SCE) in pH 7.0 phosphate buffer solution (PBS). The electrochemical parameters such as the electron transfer number (n), the electron transfer coefficient (α) and the heterogeneous electron transfer kinetic constant (k_s) of the electrode reaction were calculated with the results as 1.2, 0.465 and 0.434 s^?1, respectively. The fabricated Hb‐CILE exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity to the reduction of H₂O₂. The calibration range for H₂O₂ quantitation was between 8.0×10^?6 mol/L and 2.8×10^?4 mol/L with the linear regression equation as I_ss (μA)=0.12 C (μmol/L)+0.73 (n=18, γ=0.997) and the detection limit as 1.0×10^?6 mol/L (3σ). The apparent Michaelis–Menten constant (K_M^app) of Hb in the modified electrode was estimated to be 1.103 mmol/L. The surface of this electrochemical sensor can be renewed by a simple polishing step and showed good reproducibility.     

One‐Step Synthesis of β‐Cyclodextrin Functionalized Graphene/Ag Nanocomposite and Its Application in Sensitive Determination of 4‐Nitrophenol

β‐Cyclodextrin functionalized graphene/Ag nanocomposite (β‐CD/GN/Ag) was prepared via a one‐step microwave treatment of a mixture of graphene oxide and AgNO₃. β‐CD/GN/Ag was employed as an enhanced element for the sensitive determination of 4‐nitrophenol. A wide linear response to 4‐nitrophenol in the concentration ranges of 1.0×10^?8–1.0×10^?7 mol/L, and 1.0×10^?7–1.5×10^?3 mol/L was achieved, with a low detection limit of 8.9×10^?10 mol/L (S/N=3). The mechanism and the heterogeneous electron transfer kinetics of the 4‐nitrophenol reduction were discussed according to the rotating disk electrode experiments. Furthermore, the sensing platform has been applied to the determination of 4‐nitrophenol in real samples.     

A New Voltammetric Sensor for Hydrazine Based on Michael Addition Reaction Using 1‐Amino‐2‐naphtol‐4‐sulfonic Acid

In this paper, voltammetric determination of hydrazine was investigated by 1‐amino‐2‐naphtol‐4‐sulfonic acid (ANSA) at the surface of carbon paste electrode (CPE) using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and double potential step chronoamperometry. Results showed that in pH 7.00, hydrazine participates in Michael addition reaction with ANSA and the anodic peak potential of hydrazine shifted to 726 mV less positive than CPE in absence of ANSA, this value is unique compared with other research works. Also, the value of rate constant for the oxidation of hydrazine was calculated 8.3 × 10⁴ cm³ mol^‐1 s^‐1 and the diffusion coefficient of ANSA at the surface of CPE was determined 7.3 × 10^‐7 cm² s^‐1. A linear correlation between Ip and hydrazine concentration in the ranges, from 5 × 10^‐5 mol/L to 2.5 × 10^‐2 mol/L with CV method was obtained and the detection limit was found as 4.3 × 10^‐5 mol/L.     

Electrochemistry and Voltammetric Determination of Adenosine with N‐Hexylpyridinium Hexafluorophosphate Modified Electrode

An ionic liquid N‐hexylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate (HPPF₆) modified carbon paste electrode was fabricated for the sensitive voltammetric determination of adenosine in this paper. Carbon ionic liquid electrode (CILE) was prepared by mixing graphite powder and HPPF₆ together and the CILE was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical methods. The electrochemical behaviors of adenosine on the CILE were studied carefully. Compared with the traditional carbon paste electrode (CPE), a small negative shift of the oxidation peak potential appeared with greatly increase of the oxidation peak current, which indicated the presence of ionic liquid in the carbon paste not only as the binder but also as the modifier and promoter. Under the optimal conditions the oxidation peak current increased with the adenosine concentration in the range from 1.0×10^?6 mol/L to 1.4×10^?4 mol/L with the detection limit of 9.1×10^?7 mol/L (S/N=3) by differential pulse voltammetry. The proposed method was applied to the human urine samples detection with satisfactory results.     

Electrochemistry of adenosine-5′-diphosphate on ionic liquid modified carbon electrode and its detection

A sensitive electrochemical method was proposed for the determination of adenosine-5′-diphosphate (ADP) on an ionic liquid (IL) 1-(3-chloro-2-hydroxy-propyl)-3-methylimidazole chloride modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) in a pH 4.5 Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution. Compared with CPE, IL modified CPE (CILE) showed strong electrocatalytic ability to promote the electrochemical oxidation of ADP. A well-defined irreversible oxidation peak of ADP appeared at +1.381 V with an adsorption-controlled process, which was due to the presence of high conductive IL on the electrode. The experimental conditions were optimized and the electrochemical parameters of ADP were calculated with the electron transfer coefficient (α) as 0.293, the electron transfer number (n) as 1.23, the apparent heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (k ^s) as 3.325 × 10^?6 s^?1 and the surface coverage (Γ_T) as 0.92 × 10^?8 mol/cm². Under the optimum conditions, the oxidation peak current was linear to ADP concentration in the range from 3.0 to 1000.0 μmol/L with the detection limit as 2.78 μmol/L (3σ) by differential pulse voltammetry. The CILE also eliminated the interferences of commonly coexisting substances and was successfully applied to detect the ADP artificial samples.     

Chemical Speciation of Antimony(III and V) in Water by Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry Using the 4‐(2‐Thiazolylazo) – Resorcinol

A simple adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry method has been developed for antimony (III and V) speciation using 4‐(2‐thiazolylazo) – resorcinol (TAR). The methodology involves controlled preconcentration at pH 5, during which antimony(III) – TAR complex is adsorbed onto a hanging mercury drop electrode followed by measuring the cathodic peak current (I_p,c) at ?0.39 V versus Ag/AgCl electrode. The plot of I_p,c versus antimony(III) concentration was linear in the range 1.35×10^?9–9.53×10^?8 mol L^?1.The LOD and LOQ for Sb(III) were found 4.06×10^?10 and 1.35×10^?9 mol L^?1, respectively. Antimony(V) species after reduction to antimony(III) with Na₂SO₃ were also determined. Analysis of antimony in environment water samples was applied satisfactorily.     

Free‐radical copolymerization of styrene and m‐isopropenyl‐α,α′‐dimethylbenzyl isocyanate studied by 1H NMR kinetic experiments

The free‐radical copolymerization of m‐isopropenyl‐α,α′‐dimethylbenzyl isocyanate (TMI) and styrene was studied with ¹H NMR kinetic experiments at 70 °C. Monomer conversion vs time data were used to determine the ratio k_p × k_t^?0.5 for various comonomer mixture compositions (where k_p is the propagation rate coefficient and k_t is the termination rate coefficient). The ratio k_p × k_t^?0.5 varied from 25.9 × 10^?3 L^0.5 mol^?0.5 s^?0.5 for pure styrene to 2.03 × 10^?3 L^0.5 mol^?0.5 s^?0.5 for 73 mol % TMI, indicating a significant decrease in the rate of polymerization with increasing TMI content in the reaction mixture. Traces of the individual monomer conversion versus time were used to map out the comonomer mixture composition drift up to overall monomer conversions of 35%. Within this conversion range, a slight but significant depletion of styrene in the monomer feed was observed. This depletion became more pronounced at higher levels of TMI in the initial comonomer mixture. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1064–1074, 2002