Preparation and electrochemical characteristics of electrodeposited acetaminophen on ruthenium oxide nanoparticles and its role as a sensor for simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine and N-acetyl-l-cysteine

By immobilizing acetaminophen (AC) at the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with ruthenium oxide nanoparticles (RuON), a new modified electrode has been fabricated and its electrochemical characteristics were studied by cyclic voltammetry method. The obtained results show that the reversibility of the electrodeposited AC on RuON-GCE is significantly improved in comparison with GCE alone. The cyclic voltammogram of the modified electrode (AC-RuON-GCE) shows a stable redox couple with surface confined characteristics. The apparent charge transfer rate constant, ks, and the charge transfer coefficient, α, for electron transfer between AC and RuON-GCE were calculated. AC-RuON-GCE showed excellent electrocatalytic activity towards N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC). The detection limit of 2.84 μM and two linear calibration ranges of 0.3–14.0 μM and 14.0–1000.0 μM are obtained for NAC determination at the AC-RuON-GCE surface using a differential pulse voltammetric method (DPV). In DPV, AC-RuON-GCE could separate the oxidation peak potentials of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA) and NAC present in the same solution. Also, the modified electrode shows good sensitivity, selectivity and stability, and has been applied to the determination of NAC in an injection solution and a commercial tablet.