Covalent modification of glassy carbon electrode with cysteine for the determination of dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid

A covalently modified glassy carbon electrode with cysteine has been fabricated via an electrochemical oxidation procedure and was applied to induce the electrochemical differentiation between dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA). Based on the electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged groups on the electrode surface and DA and AA, the modified electrode enhanced the oxidation of DA, reducing the overpotential by 180 mV, and hindered the oxidation of AA, shifting the oxidation potential positively by 170 mV. The peak current for DA at the modified electrode was greatly enhanced and that for AA was significantly decreased, which allows the determination of DA in the presence of AA. The differential pulse peak current was linearly dependent on DA concentration over the range of 5 × 10⁻⁶–2 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹. The detection limit was 1.8 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹. The selectivity and sensitivity for dopamine is due to charge discrimination and analyte accumulation. The modified electrode has been applied to the determination of DA in the presence of AA. Correspondence: L. Zhang, Department of Chemistry, College of Life and Environmental Science, Shanghai Normal University, Guilin Rd 100, Shanghai 200234, P.R. China