Oleic acid-assisted preparation of LiMnPO<Subscript>4</Subscript> and its improved electrochemical performance by Co doping

LiMnPO₄, with a particle size of 50–150 nm, was prepared by oleic acid-assisted solid-state reaction. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The electrochemical properties of the materials were investigated by galvanostatic cycling. It was found that the introduction of oleic acid in the precursor led to smaller particle size and more homogeneous size distribution in the final products, resulting in improved electrochemical performance. The electrochemical performance of the sample could be further enhanced by Co doping. The mechanism for the improvement of the electrochemical performance was investigated by Li-ion chemical diffusion coefficient ( [(D)\tilde]_\textLi ) \left( {{{\tilde{D}}_{\text{Li}}}} \right) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The results revealed that the [(D)\tilde]_\textLi {\tilde{D}_{\text{Li}}} values of LiMnPO₄ measured by cyclic voltammetry method increase from 9.2 × 10⁻¹⁸ to 3.0 × 10⁻¹⁷ cm² s⁻¹ after Co doping, while the charge transfer resistance (R _ct) can be decreased by Co doping.     

Quantitation of bacteria through adsorption of intracellular biomolecules on carbon paste and screen-printed carbon electrodes and voltammetry of redox-active probes

A new electrochemical method for the quantitation of bacteria that is rapid, inexpensive, and amenable to miniaturization is reported. Cyclic voltammetry was used to quantitate M. luteus, C. sporogenes, and E. coli JM105 in exponential and stationary phases, following exposure of screen-printed carbon working electrodes (SPCEs) to lysed culture samples. Ferricyanide was used as a probe. The detection limits (3s) were calculated and the dynamic ranges for E. coli (exponential and stationary phases), M. luteus (exponential and stationary phases), and C. sporogenes (exponential phase) lysed by lysozyme were 3 × 10⁴ to 5 × 10⁶ colony-forming units (CFU) mL⁻¹, 5 × 10⁶ to 2 × 10⁸ CFU mL⁻¹ and 3 × 10³ to 3 × 10⁵ CFU mL⁻¹, respectively. Good overlap was obtained between the calibration curves when the electrochemical signal was plotted against the dry bacterial weight, or between the protein concentration in the bacterial lysate. In contrast, unlysed bacteria did not change the electrochemical signal of ferricyanide. The results indicate that the reduction of the electrochemical signal in the presence of the lysate is mainly due to the fouling of the electrode by proteins. Similar results were obtained with carbon-paste electrodes although detection limits were better with SPCEs. The method described herein was applied to quantitation of bacteria in a cooling tower water sample. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Electrochemical deposition of silicate–cetyltrimethylammonium bromide nanocomposite film on glassy carbon electrode for sensing of methyl parathion

A novel electrochemical sensor for methyl parathion based on silicate– cetyltrimethylammonium bromide nanocomposite film has been fabricated by electro-assisted deposition onto glassy carbon electrode in one-step via an electrochemical modulation of pH at the electrode/solution interface to promote controlled gelification of tetraethylorthosilicate sol, and was characterized with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrochemical sensing of methyl parathion on the film-modified electrode was investigated applying cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry. Compared to the unmodified electrode, the shapes of the redox peaks were improved and the peak currents significantly increased. Experimental parameters such as deposition time, pH value, and accumulation conditions have been optimized. A linear relationship between the peak current and methyl parathion concentration was obtained in the range from 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 1.04 × 10 ⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ (S/N = 3) after accumulation at 0 V for 120 s. The film electrode shows great promise for determination of methyl parathion in real samples.      

Ohmic contacts between sulfonated polyaniline and metals

We have compared the resistivity, ρ, of sulfonated polyaniline (SPAN) prepared via three different synthetic routes: electrochemical synthesis with a supporting electrolyte (camphorsulfonic acid), ρ =340 Ω·m; electrochemical synthesis without a supporting electrolyte, ρ =530 Ω·m, and; chemical synthesis, ρ =166 Ω·m. Independent of the metal contact (Al, Au, Cu), SPAN forms ohmic contacts with the metal and the contact resistance r _c ~5 Ω does not correlate with the metal's work function. Electronic Publication     

Electrochemical performance of rare-earth doped LiMn<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> spinel cathode materials for Li-ion rechargeable battery

Spinel powders of LiMn_2−x RE _x O₄ (RE = La, Ce, Nd, Sm; 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) have been synthesized by solid-phase reaction. The structure and electrochemical properties of these electrode materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and charge–discharge experiment. The part substitution of rare-earth element RE for Mn in LiMn₂O₄ decreases the lattice parameter, resulting in the improvement of structural stability, and decreases the charge transfer resistance during the electrochemical process of LiMn₂O₄. As a result, the cycle ability, 55 °C high-temperature and high-rate performances of LiMn_2−x RE _x O₄ electrode materials are significantly improved with increasing RE addition, compared to the pristine LiMn₂O₄.     

Electrochemical probing into cytochrome c modification with homocysteine-thiolactone

Homocysteine thiolactone modification is a unique process of posttranslational protein modification as well as a significant clinical indicator of cardiovascular and neurovascular diseases, so we report a new method in this paper to sensitively monitor such a modification using horse heart cytochrome c as a model protein. After the modification has been confirmed by UV–vis spectroscopy and ESI-MS, N-linked cytochrome c is then covalently assembled onto the surface of a gold electrode via the resulted homocysteine thiol group, thus electrochemical techniques, especially differential pulse voltammetry, have been employed and proven to provide an efficient way to probe into the modification of the protein. While the immobilized protein can exhibit well-defined voltammetric response, the signal of the modified cytochrome c is positively correlated to the concentration of homocysteine-thiolactone. The detectable electrochemical signal can be attained with the minimum concentration of 5 × 10⁻⁵ M homocysteine-thiolactone. Furthermore, screening of N-homocysteinylation inhibitors can be also feasible since the electrochemical waves linearly decrease with the concentration of an inhibitor pyridoxal 5-phosphate. The limit of detection for the inhibitors can be about 1 × 10⁻⁵ M.     

A simple linear sweep voltammetric method for the determination of double-stranded DNA with malachite green

In pH 3.5 Britton—Robinson buffer solution double-stranded (ds) DNA can react with malachite green (MG) to form an interaction complex, which resulted in the decrease of the electrochemical response of MG, MG had a well-defined second-order derivative linear sweep voltammetric peak at −0.73 V (vs. SCE). After the addition of dsDNA into MG solution, the reductive peak current decreased with the positive shift of peak potential, which was the typical characteristic of intercalation. Based on the interaction, an indirect electrochemical determination method for dsDNA was established. The optimum conditions for the reaction were investigated and there were little or no interferences from the commonly coexisting substances. The decrease of peak current was linear with the concentration of dsDNA over the range of 0.8–12.0 μg cm⁻³ with the linear regression equation as ΔI _p″/nA = 91.70 C/(μg cm⁻³) + 74.55 (n = 10, γ = 0.990). The detection limit was calculated as 0.46 μg cm⁻³ (3σ). The method had high sensitivity and was further applied to the dsDNA synthetic samples with satisfactory result. The interaction mechanism was discussed with the intercalation of DNA-MG to form a supramolecular complex and the stoichiometry of the supramolecular complex was calculated by electrochemical method with the binding number 3 and the binding constant 2.35 × 10¹⁵ (mol dm⁻³)⁻³.     

1,7′-dimethyl-2′-propyl-1<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>,3′<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>-2,5′-bibenzo[<Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>]imidazole as a corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in 1 M HCl

Inhibition effect of imidazole derivative 1,7′-dimethyl-2′-propyl-1H,3′H-2,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole (DPBI) against mild steel corrosion in 1 M HCl solutions was evaluated using the conventional mass loss method, potentiodynamic polarization, linear polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The mass loss results showed that DPBI is an excellent corrosion inhibitor; electrochemical polarizations data revealed the mixed mode of inhibition; and the results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that the change in the impedance parameters, charge transfer resistance, and double layer capacitance with the change in the concentration of the inhibitor is due to the adsorption of the molecule leading to the formation of a protective layer on the surface of mild steel. The inhibition action of this compound was assumed to occur via adsorption on the steel surface through the active centers of the molecule.     

Multi-wall carbon nanotubes and TiO2 as a sensor for electrocatalytic determination of epinephrinein the presence of p-chloranil as a mediator

In this work, we describe an electrochemical method using p-chloranil as a mediator and multi-wall carbon nanotube and TiO₂ as sensors for sensitive determination of epinephrine (EP) in aqueous solution at pH = 10.0. It has been found that under optimum condition (pH 10.0) in cyclic voltammetry, the oxidation of EP occurred at a potential about 171 mV less positive than that unmodified carbon nanotube paste electrode. The diffusion coefficient (D) and the kinetic parameters, such as electron transfer coefficient, (α) and heterogeneous rate constant (k _h) for EP were also determined using electrochemical approaches. The electrocatalytic currents increase linearly with the EP concentration over the range 0.6–135 μM. The detection limits for EP will be equal to 0.25 μM. The relative standard deviation percentage values for 10.0 and 15.0 μM EP were 1.7% and 1.9%, respectively. Finally, this modified electrode was also examined as a selective, simple, and precise new electrochemical sensor for the determination of EP in real sample such as urine and epinephrine injection solution.     

Electrochemical studies of reaction of ciprofloxcin and DNA

The electrochemical behavior of ciprofloxacin (CFX) and its interaction with the natural calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) is studied by using pulse difference voltammetry on a carbon electrode. CFX shows a well-defined oxidative peak at + 0.88 V. As a result of reaction with ctDNA,the oxidative peak of CFX decreased markedly. According to the electrochemical equation deduced in this paper, the binding constant of 1.36 × 10⁵ (mol/L)⁻¹ and the binding size of 1.94 (base pairs) of CFX with ctDNA were obtained by nonlinear fit analysis of the electrochemical data. The mechanism of the interaction was explored. __________ Translated from Journal of Zhejiang University (Science Edition), 2007, 34(3): 330–334 [译自: 浙江大学学报(自然科学版)]     

Self-assembled sulfonated β-Cyclodextrin layer on gold electrode for the selective electroanalysis of dopamine

Gold electrode with self-assembled D,L-cysteine grafted β-cyclodextrin sulfonic acid (Cys-β-CD∼SO₃) layer was fabricated and used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of dopamine. The experimental results indicated that the self-assembled Cys-β-CD∼SO₃ layer modified gold electrode has selective electrochemical response to dopamine with high sensitivity and excellent tolerance of ascorbic acid, which is the most common accompanying component in biological samples. Dopamine could be accurately determined in the concentration range of 1–200 μM in the presence of ascorbic acid of 5 mM. The relative standard deviation of 1.9% (n = 5) was achieved at a dopamine concentration of 5 × 10⁻⁵ M. The proposed sensor was successfully applied to the determination of dopamine in human blood serum samples.     

Sensitive determination of adenine on poly(amidosulfonic acid)-modified glassy carbon electrode

A novel and reliable direct electrochemical method was established for the detection of adenine, based on the differential pulse anodic stripping response at a poly(amidosulfonic acid) (poly-ASA)-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) fabricated by electropolymerization. The characterization of electrochemically synthesized poly-ASA film was investigated by atomic force microscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and voltammetric methods. This poly-ASA-modified GCE could greatly enhance the detection sensitivity of adenine. At optimum conditions, the anodic peak exhibits a good linear concentration dependence in the range from 3.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ M (r = 0.9994). The detection limit is 8.0 × 10⁻⁹ M (S/N = 3). The proposed method could be used to determinate the adenine in tablets of vitamin B₄ with satisfactory results.     

Electrocatalytic oxidation of quinine sulfate at a multiwall carbon nanotubes-ionic liquid modified glassy carbon electrode and its electrochemical determination

The electrocatalytic oxidation of quinine sulfate (QS) was investigated at a glassy carbon electrode, modified by a gel containing multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and room-temperature ionic liquid of 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophate (BMIMPF₆) in 0.10 M of phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 6.8). It was found that an irreversible anodic oxidation peak of QS with E _pa as 0.99 V appeared at MWCNTs-RTIL/glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The electrode reaction process was a diffusion-controlled one and the electrochemical oxidation involved two electrons transferring and two protons participation. Furthermore, the charge-transfer coefficient (α), diffusion coefficient (D), and electrode reaction rate constant (k _f) of QS were found to be 0.87, 7.89 × 10⁻³ cm²⋅s⁻¹ and 3.43 × 10⁻² s⁻¹, respectively. Under optimized conditions, linear calibration curves were obtained over the QS concentration range 3.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ M by square wave voltammetry, and the detection limit was found to be 0.44 μM based on the signal-to-noise ratio of 3. In addition, the novel MWCNTs-RTIL/GCE was characterized by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the proposed method has been successfully applied in the electrochemical quantitative determination of quinine content in commercial injection samples and the determination results could meet the requirement.     

Electrochemical behaviors of ofloxacin and its voltammetric determination at carbon nanotubes film modified electrode

A multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)-Nafion film-coated glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was fabricated and the electrochemical behavior of ofloxacin on the MWNTs-Nafion film-coated GCE were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The oxidation peak current of ofloxacin increased significantly on the MWNTs-Nafion film modified GCE compared with that using a bare GCE. This nano-structured film electrode exhibited excellent enhancement effects on the electrochemical oxidation of ofloxacin. A well-defined oxidation peak attributed to ofloxacin was observed at 0.97 V and was applied to the determination of ofloxacin. The oxidation peak current was proportional to ofloxacin concentration in the ranges 1.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol/L and 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 2.0 × 10⁻⁵ mol/L. A detection limit of 8.0 × 10⁻⁹ mol/L was obtained for 400 s accumulation at open circuit (S/N = 3). This method for the detection of ofloxacin in human urine was satisfactory. __________ Translated from Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry, 2007, 24(5): 540–545 [译自: 应用化学]     

Immobilization of Hemoglobin on the Gold Colloid Modified Pretreated Glassy Carbon Electrode for Preparing a Novel Hydrogen Peroxide Biosensor

A novel hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) biosensor was developed by immobilizing hemoglobin on the gold colloid modified electrochemical pretreated glassy carbon electrode (PGCE) via the bridging of an ethylenediamine monolayer. This biosensor was characterized by UV-vis reflection spectroscopy (UV-vis), electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The immobilized Hb exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen peroxide. The Michaelis–Menten constant (K _m) was 3.6 mM. The currents were proportional to the H₂O₂ concentration from 2.6 × 10⁻⁷ to 7.0 × 10⁻³ M, and the detection limit was as low as 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ M (S/N = 3).     

Self-assembled monolayer gold electrode for surfactant analysis

A gold electrode coated with a self-assembled monolayer of octane-thiol (SAM/Au) has been used as an amperometric detector for the determination of surfactants. This detector operated in the presence of a high percentage of organic solvent and was adapted to an HPLC System. At the SAM/Au, the electrochemical response of an electroactive tracer (potassium ferricyanide) was completely inhibited, but, in the presence of a cationic surfactant, the electrochemical reduction was progressively restored. In flow injection analysis, using the SAM/Au in an amperometric flow-through detector polarised at 0.0 V vs Ag/AgCl, a linear response (i=f{[surfactant]}) was observed for cationic surfactants e.g. cetylpyridinium chloride in the concentration range 2 × 10⁻⁶–1 × 10⁻³ M. The electrochemical data along with the determination of the ion pair stoichiometry between the redox tracer and the surfactant suggest an electrochemical response related to ion pair formation and governed by electron transfer by tunneling effect. Received: 28 January 1997 / Accepted: 7 March 1997     

Determination of Aldehydes and Ketones in Fuel Ethanol by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Electrochemical Detection

A new methodology was developed for analysis of aldehydes and ketones in fuel ethanol by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to electrochemical detection. The electrochemical oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 2-furfuraldehyde, butyraldehyde, acetone and methyl ethyl ketone derivatized with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) at glassy carbon electrode present a well defined wave at +0.94 V; +0.99 V; +1.29 V; +1.15 V and +1.18 V, respectively which are the basis for its determination on electrochemical detector. The carbonyl compounds derivatized were separated by a reverse-phase column under isocratic conditions with a mobile phase containing a binary mixture of methanol / LiClO_4(aq) at a concentration of 1.0 × 10⁻³ mol L⁻¹ (80:20 v/v) and a flow-rate of 1.1mL min⁻¹ . The optimum potential for the electrochemical detection of aldehydes-DNPH and ketones-DNPH was +1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The analytical curve of aldehydes-DNPH and ketones-DNPH presented linearity over the range 5.0 to 400.0 ng mL⁻¹, with detection limits of 1.7 to 2.0 ng mL⁻¹ and quantification limits from 5.0 to 6.2 ng mL⁻¹, using injection volume of 20 μL. The proposed methodology was simple, low time-consuming (15 min/analysis) and presented analytical recovery higher than 95%.     

Electrochemical transformations of monooxa- and dioxabicycloalkenes and-bicycloalkanes

Electrolysis of 2-oxa- and 2,5-dioxabicyclo[n.4.0]alk-1(6)0enes (n=4, 10) under conditions of direct undivided anodic oxidation in methanol results in their electrochemical mono-and dimethoxylation; electrolysis of the corresponding 2-oxa-and 2,5-dioxabicycloalkanes involves electrochemical cleavage of the bridging carbon—carbon bonds followed by electrooxidative transformation into methyl ω-(2-methoxytetrahydrofuryl)-, ω-(dimethoxy-methyl)-, and ω-(1,3-dioxolan-2-yl)alkanoates. For preliminary communication, see Ref. 1. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 2115–2122, November, 1999.     

Study of capacitive properties in supercapacitor for copolymer of aniline with m-phenylenediamine

The copolymers were synthesized with different molar ratios of m-phenylenediamine to aniline (R for short) by a chemical oxidation method. The products were first used as electrochemical activity materials of the supercapacitor. Capacitive behaviors of the prepared copolymers in 1 mol·L⁻¹ H₂SO₄ electrolyte were examined by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammeter, and galvanostatic charge/discharge. The relationship of molar ratios with capacitive property of the prepared products was investigated too. The results showed that the product with R of 2:98 displayed better electrochemical properties than that of the other products. Compared with the synthesized polymer in the absence of m-phenylenediamine, the polymerized copolymer with R of 2:98 exhibited the initial specific capacitance value of 475 F·g⁻¹, which increased by nearly 10.1% than that of the former at a current density of 200 mA·g⁻¹ in 1 mol·L⁻¹ H₂SO₄ electrolyte in the potential range of −0.3 to 0.7 V. The discharge specific capacitance value of the copolymer remained 300 F·g⁻¹ after 1,000 cycles, exhibiting a good cycling performance and the structure stability.     

Voltammetry of electroactive liquid redox systems: anion insertion and chemical reactions in microdroplets of para-tetrakis(6-methoxyhexyl) phenylenediamine, para- and meta-tetrahexylphenylenediamine

The effect of the structure of the organic precursor molecule on the electroinsertion of anions and on the formation of materials in the ionic liquid state is compared for three compounds, para-N, N, N′, N′-tetrahexylphenylenediamine (p-THPD), meta-N, N, N′, N′-tetrahexylphenylene diamine (m-THPD), and para-N, N, N′, N′-tetrakis(6-methoxyhexyl)phenylenediamine (p-TMHPD), by characterising their condensed phase voltammetric properties in aqueous media. The electrochemically driven anion insertion in p-THPD and p-TMHPD in the presence of ClO₄ ⁻, F⁻, Cl⁻, Br⁻, I⁻, and SO₄ ²⁻ is shown to be extremely sensitive to structure. The introduction of the methoxy end groups in p-TMHPD causes (1) a considerable shift to more negative electroinsertion potentials, (2) a less stable response which upon continuous cycling decreases, and (3) considerably lower anion selectivity. For the insertion of sulfate, only p-TMHPD yields an electrochemical response which is shown to be consistent with insertion of the dianion SO₄ ²⁻. The electrochemical oxidation of a deposit of m-THPD is accompanied by anion insertion and a chemical reaction step in an EC-type electrochemical process. The product of the chemical step is electrochemically active and results in a new reversible electroinsertion process. Starting materials and products of the microdroplet reactions are characterised by Maldi-TOF mass spectrometry and a reaction mechanism based on condensed phase polymerisation is proposed. Received: 15 November 1999 / Accepted: 2 December 1999