Electrocatalytic oxidation of dopamine at an ionic liquid modified carbon paste electrode and its analytical application

A room-temperature ionic liquid N-butylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate was used as a binder to construct an ionic liquid modified carbon paste electrode, which was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The ionic liquid carbon paste electrode (IL-CPE) showed enhanced electrochemical response and strong analytical activity towards the electrochemical oxidation of dopamine (DA). A pair of well-defined quasireversible redox peaks of DA appeared, with the redox peaks located at 215 mV (E (pa)) and 151 mV (E (pc)) (vs. the saturated calomel electrode, SCE) in pH 6.0 phosphate buffer solution. The formal potential (E (0')) was calculated as 183 mV (vs. SCE) and the peak-to-peak separation as 64 mV. The electrochemical behavior of DA on the IL-CPE was carefully investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the anodic peak currents increased linearly with the concentration of DA in the range 1.0 x 10(-6)-8.0 x 10(-4) mol/L and the detection limit was calculated as 7.0 x 10(-7) mol/L (3sigma). The interferences of foreign substances were investigated and the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of DA injection samples. The IL-CPE fabricated was sensitive, selective and showed good ability to distinguish the coexisting ascorbic acid and uric acid.