Simultaneous determination of N-acetyl-p-aminophenol and p-aminophenol with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) modified glassy carbon electrode

A sensitive and selective method was developed for the determination of N-acetyl-p-aminophenol (APAP) and p-aminophenol (PAP) using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry were used to investigate the electrochemical reaction of APAP and PAP at the modified electrode. Both APAP and PAP showed quasireversible redox reactions with formal potentials of 367 mV and 101 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl), respectively, in phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.0. The significant peak potential difference (266 mV) between APAP and PAP enabled the simultaneous determination both species based on differential pulse voltammetry. The voltammetric responses gave linear ranges of 1.0 × 10−6–1.0 × 10−4 mol L−1 and 4.0 × 10−6–3.2 × 10−4 mol L−1, with detection limits of 4.0 × 10−7 mol L−1 and 1.2 × 10−6 mol L−1 for APAP and PAP, respectively. The method was successfully applied for the determination of APAP and PAP in pharmaceutical formulations and biological samples.