Electrochemistry and electrocatalytic activity of catechin film on a glassy carbon electrode toward the oxidation of hydrazine

A very stable electroactive film of catechin was electrochemically deposited on the surface of activated glassy carbon electrode. The electrochemical behavior of catechin modified glassy carbon electrode (CMGCE) was extensively studied using cyclic voltammetry. The properties of the electrodeposited films, during preparation under different conditions, and the stability of the deposited film were examined. The charge transfer coefficient (α) and charge transfer rate constant (k _s) for catechin deposited film were calculated. It was found that the modified electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity toward hydrazine oxidation and it also showed a very large decrease in the overpotential for the oxidation of hydrazine. The CMGCE was employed to study electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrazine using cyclic voltammetry, rotating disk voltammetry, chronoamperometry, amperometry and square-wave voltammetry as diagnostic techniques. The catalytic rate constant of the modified electrode for the oxidation of hydrazine was determined by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and rotating disk voltammetry and was found to be around 10⁻³ cm s⁻¹ . In the used different voltammetric methods, the plot of the electrocatalytic current versus hydrazine concentration is constituted of two linear segments with different ranges of hydrazine concentration. Furthermore, amperometry in stirred solution exhibits a detection limit of 0.165 μM and the precision of 4.7% for replicate measurements of 40.0 μM solution of hydrazine.