A sensor for acetaminophen in a blood medium using a Cu(II)-conducting polymer complex modified electrode

Complexation of Cu ions in a terthiophene carboxylic acid (TTCA) polymer film resulted an enhanced anodic current for acetaminophen oxidation when compared to polymer coated and bare glassy carbon electrodes in human blood and buffer media. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ESCA experiments indicate the involvement of copper in the electrocatalytic oxidation of acetaminophen. No interference was observed from other biologically important and phenolic compounds used with this modified electrode. Especially, the non-interference from N-acetylcysteine, an antidote for the treatment of acetaminophen poisoning, reveals the proposed method’s superiority in medicinal applications. In addition, the present modified electrode avoids surface fouling at higher concentrations of acetaminophen. The calibration range obtained with CV was based between 2.0×10^-5 and 5.0×10^-3 M [r^2=0.997 (n=5, R.S.D.=2.5%); DL=5.0×10^-6 M (S/N=3)]. The analytical utility of the modified electrode was achieved by analyzing the content of acetaminophen in different drugs without pretreatment using CV and amperometric techniques.