Selective determination of dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid at a multi-wall carbon nanotube-poly(3,5-dihydroxy benzoic acid) film modified electrode

A sensitive and selective method for determination of dopamine (DA) using multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-poly(3,5-dihydroxy benzoic acid) [poly(DBA)] modified electrode is developed. The modified electrode shows excellent electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of dopamine in phosphate buffer solutions at pH 7.4. Using cyclic voltammetry, the linear range of 1 × 10−7–7.0 × 10−5 M in the interference of 500 μM ascorbic acid (AA) and the detection limit of 1.0 × 10−8 M were estimated for the measurement of DA in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solutions. The value of DA current retained 98.36% of the initial response current after the modified electrode exposed to the air for one week. The interference studies showed that the modified electrode excludes effectively large excess of AA. The kinetic characteristics of the transfer of DA demonstrated that the electron propagation between DA and electrode was accelerated at MWCNT-poly(DBA) modified electrode. The work provided a valid and simple approach to selectively detect dopamine in the presence of AA in physiological environment.