Electro-oxidation and determination of trazodone at multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified glassy carbon electrode

A simple and rapid electrochemical method was developed for the determination of trace-level trazodone, based on the excellent properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The MWCNT-modified glassy carbon electrode was constructed and the electrochemical behavior of trazodone was investigated in detail. The cyclic voltammetric results indicate that MWCNT-modified glassy carbon electrode can remarkably enhance electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of trazodone in neutral solutions. It leads to a considerable improvement of the anodic peak current for trazodone, and allows the development of a highly sensitive voltammetric sensor for the determination of trazodone. Trazodone could effectively accumulate at this electrode and produce two anodic peaks at about 0.73 V and 1.00 V. The electrocatalytic behavior was further exploited as a sensitive detection scheme for the trazodone determination by differential-pulse voltammetry. Under optimized conditions, the concentration range and detection limit are 0.2-10 μM and 24 nM, respectively for trazodone. The proposed method was successfully applied to trazodone determination in pharmaceutical samples. The analytical performance of this sensor has been evaluated for detection of analyte in urine as a real sample.     

Highly selective and sensitive copper membrane electrode based on a new synthesized Schiff base

Bis(2-hydroxyacetophenone)butane-2,3-dihydrazone (BHAB) was used as new N-N Schiffs base which plays the role of an excellent ion carrier in the construction of a Cu(II) membrane sensor. The best performance was obtained with a membrane composition of 30% poly(vinyl chloride), 55% o-nitrophenyloctyl ether (NPOE), 7% BHAB and 8% oleic acid (OA). This sensor shows very good selectivity and sensitivity towards copper ion over a wide variety of cations, including alkali, alkaline earth, transition and heavy metal ions. The effect of membrane composition and pH and influence of additive anionic on the response properties of electrode were investigated. The electrode exhibits a Nernstian behavior (with slope of 29.6 mV per decade) over a very wide concentration range (5.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.0 × 10⁻² mol L⁻¹) with a detection limit of 3.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ (2.56 ng mL⁻¹). It shows relatively fast response time, in whole concentration range (<15 s), and can be used for at least 12 weeks in the pH range of 2.8-5.8. The proposed sensor was successfully used to determination of copper in different water samples and as indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of copper ion with EDTA.     

Voltammetric determination of Cu(II) in natural waters and human hair at a meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid self-assembled gold electrode

An electrochemical sensor for the detection of copper(II) ions is described using a meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) self-assembled gold electrode. First in ammonia buffer pH 8, copper(II) ions complex with self-assembled monolayer (SAM) via the free carboxyl groups on immobilized meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (accumulation step). Then, the medium is exchanged to acetate buffer pH 4.6 and the complexed Cu(II) ions are reduced in negative potential of −0.3 V (reduction step). Following this, reduced coppers are oxidized and detected by differential pulse (DP) voltammetric scans from −0.3 to +0.7 V (stripping step). The effective parameters in sensor response were examined. The detection limit of copper(II) was 1.29 μg L⁻¹ and R.S.D. for 200 μg L⁻¹ was 1.06%. The calibration curve was linear for 3-225 μg L⁻¹ copper(II). The procedure was applied for determination of Cu(II) to natural waters and human hairs. The accuracy and precision of results were comparable to those obtained by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS).     

Isocratic ion chromatographic determination of underivatized amino acids by electrochemical detection

An isocratic chromatographic separation with amperometric detection of underivatized amino acids at a copper oxyhydroxide modified glassy carbon electrode is described. A simple and sensitive quantitation procedure of amino acids without the need of tedious and time-consuming derivatization step was achieved by coupling anion-exchange chromatography with electrochemical detection. The effects of hydroxide, nitrate and acetonitrile concentration in the mobile phase on the capacity factors and peak resolution was evaluated. Under the optimized isocratic chromatographic conditions (i.e. 60 mM NaOH) and under constant applied potentials (i.e. 0.55 V versus Ag/AgCl) the detection limit ranged between 4 and 24 pmol injected and the linear dynamic range spanned generally over three or four order of magnitude for all investigated amino acid compounds. Direct determination of several common free amino acids in beer and milk samples were performed.     

Electrochemical determination of L-Tryptophan, L-Tyrosine and L-Cysteine using electrospun carbon nanofibers modified electrode

A novel and simple method for the direct and quantitative determination of L-tryptophan (Trp), L-tyrosine (Tyr) and L-cysteine (Cys) was proposed in this work. Carbon nanofibers (CNFs), made by electrospinning technique, were used to modify carbon paste electrode (CPE) without any treatment to study the electrochemical behaviors of the three amino acids using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and constant potential amperometric method. The results demonstrated that the CNFs modified carbon paste electrode (CNF-CPE) exhibited high electrocatalytic activity and good analytical performance towards the oxidation of the three amino acids. The linear ranges of Trp, Tyr and Cys were 0.1-119, 0.2-107 and 0.15-64 μM with correlation coefficients of 0.9994, 0.9985 and 0.9996, respectively. All the detection limits of the analytes were 0.1 μM (S/N = 3). In addition, the CNF-CPE displayed good reproducibility, high sensitivity and good selectivity towards the determination of the amino acids, making it suitable for the determination of Trp, Tyr and Cys in clinical and medicine.     

Flow and batch systems for copper(II) potentiometric sensing

A new carbon paste electrode modified with tetramethyl thiuram disulfide is prepared to use as copper potentiometric sensor in batch and flow analysis. The influence of pH and carbon paste composition on the potentiometric response is studied. The principal parameters of the flow system are optimized and the detection limits and the selectivity coefficients of the potentiometric sensor are calculated for static and flow mode. In both cases, the sensor shows high selectivity to copper ions but in flow analysis this selectivity is higher. The obtained detection limits are 4.6 × 10⁻⁸ M for batch measurements and 2.0 × 10⁻⁷ M for on-line analysis. The potentiometric sensor is applied to copper(II) determination in real samples in static and flow measurements. In both analysis modes, successful results are obtained.     

The versatility of salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone in the determination of copper in blood using adsorptive stripping voltammetry

The adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry technique (AdCSV) is used to determine copper(II) using salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (N, S- donor) as a complexing agent on hanging mercury drop electrode at pH 9.3. Variable factors affecting the response, i.e. the concentration of ligand, pH, adsorption potential and adsorption time are assessed and optimized. The adsorbed complex of copper(II) and salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone gives a well defined cathodic stripping peak current at −0.35 V, which has been used for the determination of copper in the concentration range of 7.85 × 10⁻⁹ to 8.00 × 10⁻⁶ M with accumulation time of 360 s at −0.1 V versus Ag/AgCl. This technique has been applied for the determination of copper in various digested samples of whole blood at trace levels.     

The application of conducting polymer nanoparticle electrodes to the sensing of ascorbic acid

An ascorbic acid sensor was fabricated via the drop-casting of dodecylbenzene sulphonic acid (DBSA)-doped polyaniline nanoparticles onto a screen-printed carbon-paste electrode. The modified electrode was characterised with respect to the numbers of drop cast layers, optimum potential and operating pH. The sensor was found to be optimal at neutral pH and at 0 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Under these conditions, the sensor showed good selectivity and sensitivity in that it did not respond to a range of common interferents such as dopamine, acetaminophen, uric acid and citric acid, but was capable of the detection of ascorbic acid at a sensitivity of 0.76 μA mM⁻¹ or 10.75 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² across a range from 0.5 to 8 mM (r² = 0.996, n = 6), and a limit of detection of 8.3 μM (S/N = 3). The sensor was compared to a range of other conducting polymer-based ascorbate sensors and found to be comparable or superior in terms of analytical performance.     

Ni(II) selective sensors based on Schiff bases membranes in poly(vinyl chloride)

The two nickel chelates of Schiff bases, 3-hydroxy-N-{2-[(3-hydroxy-N-phenylbutyrimidoyl)-amino]-phenyl}-N′-phenylbutyramidine (M₁) and bis-4-(ethyliminomethyl)naphthalene-1-ol (M₂), have been synthesized and explored as ionophores for preparing PVC-based membrane sensors selective to nickel ion. The influences of membrane compositions on the potentiometric response of the electrodes have been found to substantially improve the performance characteristics. The best performance was obtained with the electrode having a membrane composition (w/w; mg) of (M₁): PVC:NaTPB:CN in the ratio 5:150:5:150. The sensor shows a linear potential response for Ni²⁺ over a wide concentration range 1.6 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.0 × 10⁻² M with Nernstian compliance (30.0 ± 0.2 mV/decade of activity) within pH range 2.5-9.5 and a fast response time of 10 s. The sensor has been found to work satisfactorily in partially non-aqueous media up to 20% (v/v) content of methanol, ethanol, and acetonitrile and could be used for a period of 4 months. The analytical usefulness of the proposed electrode has been evaluated by its application in the determination of nickel in real samples. The practical utility of the membrane electrode has also been observed in the presence of surfactants.     

Schiff bases as cadmium(II) selective ionophores in polymeric membrane electrodes

The construction and performance characteristics of polymeric membrane electrodes based on two neutral ionophores, N,N′-[bis(pyridin-2-yl)formylidene]butane-1,4-diamine (S₁) and N-(2-pyridinylmethylene)-1,2-benzenediamine (S₂) for quantification of cadmium ions, are described. The influences of membrane compositions on the potentiometric response of the electrodes have been found to substantially improve the performance characteristics. The best performance was obtained with the electrode having a membrane composition (w/w) of (S₁) (2.15%):PVC (32.2%):o-NPOE (64.5%):KTpClPB (1.07%). The proposed electrode exhibits Nernstian response in the concentration range of 7.9 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.0 × 10⁻¹ M Cd²⁺ with limit of detection 5.0 × 10⁻⁸ M, performs satisfactorily over wide pH range (2.0-8.0) with a fast response time (10 s). The sensor has been found to work satisfactorily in partially non-aqueous media up to 30% (v/v) content of methanol, ethanol and acetonitrile and could be used for a period of 2 months. The analytical usefulness of the proposed electrode has been evaluated by its application in the determination of cadmium in real samples. The practical utility of the membrane electrode has also been observed in the presence of surfactants.     

Comparative studies of mercapto thiadiazoles self-assembled on gold nanoparticle as ionophores for Cu(II) carbon paste sensors

Comparative studies of the potentiometric behavior of three mercapto compounds [2-((5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-ylimino)methyl)phenol] (MTMP), [5-(2-methoxy benzylidene amino)-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thiol] (MBYT) and [5-(pyridin-2-ylmethyleneamino)-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thiol] (PYTT) self-assembled on gold nanoparticles (GNPs) as ionophores in carbon paste electrodes (CPEs) have been made. These mercapto thiadiazole compounds were self-assembled onto gold nanoparticles and then incorporated within carbon paste electrode. The self-assembled ionophores exhibit a high selectivity for copper ion (Cu²⁺), in which the sulfur and nitrogen atoms in their structure play a role as the effective coordination donor site for the copper ion. These carbon paste electrodes were applied as indicator electrodes for potentiometric determination of copper ions. The sensor based on PYTT exhibits the working concentration range of 4.0 × 10⁻⁹ to 7.0 × 10⁻² M and a Nernstian slope of 28.7 ± 0.3 mV decade⁻¹ of copper activity. The detection limit of electrode was 1.0 × 10⁻⁹ M and potential response was pH independent across the range of 3.0-6.5. It exhibited a quick response time of <5 s and could be used for a period of 45 days. The ion selectivity of this electrode for Cu²⁺ was over 10⁴ times that for other metal cations. The application of prepared sensors has been demonstrated for the determination of copper ions in spiked water and natural water samples.     

Application of adsorptive stripping voltammetry to the determination of bismuth and copper in the presence of morin

A new method is presented for the determination of bismuth and copper based on cathodic adsorptive stripping of complexes of Cu(II) and Bi(III) with 2′,3,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone (morin) at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). The effect of various parameters such as pH, concentration of morin, accumulation potential and accumulation time on the selectivity and sensitivity were studied. The optimum conditions for determination of copper include nitric acid concentration 0.1 M, morin concentration 0.6 μM and accumulation potential of −300 mV. Those conditions for the determination of bismuth include 0.15 M acid concentration, 0.6 μM morin and accumulation potential of −300 mV. Under these optimum conditions and for an accumulation time of 60 s, the measured peak current at −20 to 25 mV is proportional to the concentration of copper and bismuth over the range of 0.2-130 and 5-50 ng ml⁻¹, respectively. At high concentration of morin (35 μM morin) and accumulation potential of −300 mV (versus Ag/AgCl reference electrode) the peak current is proportional only to the concentration of copper and bismuth has no contribution to the current. At low concentration of morin (0.5 μM morin) and accumulation potential of 100 mV (versus Ag/AgCl reference electrode) the peak current is proportional only to the concentration of bismuth. The method was applied to the determination of copper and bismuth in some real and synthetic samples with satisfactory results.     

Copper(II)-selective electrode based on dithioacetal

A PVC membrane electrode for copper ion based on 1,3-dithiane,2-(4-methoxy phenyl) as ionophore and o-nitrophenyl octyl ether as a plasticizer is demonstrated. The electrode exhibits a Nernstian slope of 29.5±1 mV per decade in a linear range of 3.0×10⁻⁶ to 5.0×10⁻² M for Cu²⁺ ion. The detection limit of this electrode is 1.0×10⁻⁶ mol/l. This sensor has a very short response time of about 5 s and could be used in a pH range of 4.0-7.0. High selectivity was obtained over a wide variety of metal ions. The proposed electrode was successfully applied as an indicator electrode for the potentiometric titration of copper ion with EDTA and for the direct determination of copper in river water.     

Ultraviolet detection of amino acids based on their on-column conjugation with cupric cation using a disposable electrophoresis microdevice

A method for fast sensitive ultraviolet detection of amino acids was developed with a disposable electrophoresis microdevice. The microdevice was conveniently constructed by fixing a fused-silica capillary with a sampling fracture to a printed circuit board. During the separation process, the on-column conjugation of amino acids with cupric cation led to the ultraviolet absorption at 232 nm that could be directly used for fast analysis of amino acids. Using 20 mM boric acid (pH 5.3) containing 5 mM cupric cation and 0.015% Tween 20 as running buffer, this method could completely separate lysine, glutamine and serine at a sampling time of 2 s at +210 V and a separation voltage of +1800 V (240 V/cm). The theoretical plate numbers were from 140,000 to 205,000 plates/m. The linear ranges were from 10 to 500 μM for lysine, 20-1000 μM for glutamine and serine. The novel protocol had been successfully used to detect amino acids in beverage samples with recovery more than 85.0%, indicating its advantages and potential analytical application in different fields.     

A comparison of edge- and basal-plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes towards the sensitive determination of hydrocortisone

Electrochemical sensor employing edge-plane pyrolytic graphite electrode (EPPGE) for the sensitive detection of hydrocortisone (HC) is delineated for the first time. The electrochemical properties are investigated exercising the cyclic voltammetry and square-wave voltammetry (SWV). When equating with the bare basal-plane pyrolytic graphite electrode (BPPGE), the EPPGE gave better response towards the detection of HC both in terms of sensitivity and detection limit. The voltammetric results indicated that EPPGE remarkably enhances the reduction of HC which leads to considerable amelioration of peak current with shift of peak potential to less negative values. The difference in the surface morphology of two electrodes has been studied. Also, the EPPGE delivered an analytical performance for HC with a sensitivity of 45 nA nM⁻¹ and limit of detection of 88 nM in the concentration range 100-2000 nM. The method has been utilized for the determination of HC in pharmaceuticals and real samples. The electroanalytical method using EPPGE is the most sensitive method for determination of HC with lowest limit of detection to date. The major metabolites present in blood plasma did not intervene with the present investigation as they did not exhibit reduction peak in the experimental range used. A comparison of results with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) signalizes a good agreement.     

Analysis of amino acids in complex samples by using voltammetry and multivariate calibration methods

A voltammetric method is proposed for the simultaneous determination of tryptophan, cysteine, and tyrosine using multivariate calibration techniques. Various electrodes and voltammetric techniques were explored to ascertain the optimum measurement strategy. Among them, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) with a Pt electrode was selected as analytical technique since it provided a suitable compromise between sensitivity and reproducibility while allowing the oxidation peaks of the three compounds to be reasonably discriminated. The sensitivity of DPV with Pt electrode for Trp standards was 8.4×10⁻² A l mol⁻¹, the repeatability 3.7% and the detection limit below 10⁻⁷ M. The lack of full selectivity of the voltammetric data was overcome using multivariate calibration methods on the basis of the differences in the voltammetric waves of each compound. The accuracy of predictions was evaluated preliminarily from the analysis of three-component synthetic mixtures. Subsequently, this method was applied to the analysis of oxidizable amino acids in feed samples. Results obtained were in good concordance with those given by the standard method using an amino acid analyzer.     

Application of adsorptive stripping voltammetry to the simultaneous determination of bismuth and copper in the presence of nuclear fast red

A sensitive and selective method for the simultaneous determination of copper and bismuth by adsorptive stripping was developed using nuclear fast red (2-anthracenesulfonic acid, 4-amino-9,10-dihydro-1,3-dihydroxy-9,10-dioxo-, monosodium salt) as selective complexing agent onto hanging mercury drop electrode. In a single scan both metals gave peaks that were distinctly separated by 85 mV allowing their determination in the presence of each other. Optimal analytical conditions were found to be: nuclear fast red concentration of 80 μM, pH of 2.8 and adsorptive potential of −300 mV versus Ag/AgCl. With accumulation time of 180 s the peaks currents are proportional to concentration of copper and bismuth over the 1-100 and 5-60 ng mL⁻¹ range with detection limits of 0.2 and 1.2 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The procedure was applied to simultaneous determination of copper and bismuth in some real samples.     

Selective determination of dopamine with a cibacron blue/poly-1,5-diaminonaphthalene composite film

A selective detection method for dopamine (DA) was developed by incorporating cibacron blue (F3GA) into poly-1,5-diaminonaphthalene (PDAN) layer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were employed to characterize the modified surfaces. The modified electrode was effective in selectively facilitating the electron transfer of DA and blocking the interferences of negatively charged species attributed to the sulfonate groups in the F3GA/PDAN composite film. This method enabled the determination of DA in the presence of various interfering species, including ascorbic acid (AA), in a phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4). The modified electrode demonstrated good performance in the detection of DA in a concentration range of 5.0-100 μM, with a detection limit (k = 3) of 0.1 ± 0.01 μM. The application was conducted for the determination of DA in a human urine sample and the sensor was proven to be rapid, has excellent selectivity, and stable amperometric response.     

Nonenzymatic glucose sensor based on CuO microfibers composed of CuO nanoparticles

Fluorine tin oxide (FTO) electrode modified by copper oxide microfibers (CuO-MFs) composed of numerous interconnected CuO nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) for nonenzymatic glucose sensor was prepared by electrospinning precursor containing high percentage content of copper nitrate with subsequent calcination. The results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed the size of CuO particles composing CuO-MFs depended on the percentage content of copper nitrate in precursor solution. With increasing the percentage content of copper nitrate, the interconnected CuO-NPs would gradually replace the large-size CuO particles to accumulate the CuO-MFs, which have the potential to provide larger surface area and more reaction sites for electrocatalytic activity toward glucose. As a glucose sensor, the CuO-MFs modified FTO electrode prepared by 40 wt.% of copper nitrate exhibited a high sensitivity of 2321 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² with a low detection limit of 2.2 nM (signal/noise ratio (S/N) = 3). Additionally, the application of the CuO-MFs modified FTO electrode as a glucose sensor for biological samples was demonstrated with satisfactory results.     

Investigation on the application of titania nanorod arrays to the determination of chemical oxygen demand

In the present paper, the TiO₂ nanorod arrays electrode was developed as a sensor for the determination of chemical oxygen demand (COD) based on a photoelectrochemical degradation principle. Effects of common parameters, such as applied potential, light intensity and pH on its analytical performance were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the nanorod arrays electrode was successfully applied in the COD determination for both synthetic and real samples. In the COD determination, the proposed method can achieve a practical detection limit of 18.3 mg L⁻¹ and a linear range of 20–280 mg L⁻¹. Furthermore, the results obtained by the proposed method were well correlated with those obtained using the conventional (i.e., dichromate) COD determination method. The main advantages of this COD determination method were its simplicity, long term stability and environmental friendly (corrosive and toxic reagents not consumed). This work would open a new application area (COD determination) of the TiO₂ nanorod arrays.