Multi-walled carbon nanotube paste electrode for selective voltammetric detection of isoniazid

A multi-walled carbon nanotube paste electrode (MWCPE) is prepared as an electrochemical sensor with high sensitivity and selectivity in responding to isoniazid. The electrochemical oxidation of isoniazid is investigated in buffered solution by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry. The electrode is shown to be very effective for the detection of isoniazid in the presence of other biological reductant compounds. The electrochemical oxidation of cysteine, due to the high overvoltage, is completely stopped at the surface of MWCPE. The electrode exhibits a very good resolution between the voltammetric peak of isoniazid and the peaks of ascorbic acid (AA) and dopamine (DA). A resolution of more than 450 mV between the anodic peak potentials makes the MWCPE suitable for simultaneous detection of isoniazid in the presence of AA or DA in clinical and pharmaceutical preparations. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) is applied as a sensitive method for the determination of isoniazid. The linear range in these determinations is 1 × 10⁻⁶–1 × 10⁻³ M for isoniazid and the detection limit is 5 × 10⁻⁷ M. The electrode was applied to the simultaneous determinations in isoniazid and AA mixtures and also, isoniazid and DA mixture over a wide concentration range. The slope variation for the calibration curves of isoniazid (RSD) was less than 4.5% (based on ten measurements over a period of three months).