Electrochemistry and detection of some organic and biological molecules at conducting poly(3-methylthiophene) electrodes

Abstract Electrodes modified by the electrodeposition of poly(3-methylthiophene) were used as chemical sensors for some organic and biological molecules of industrial and medicinal interest. The electrochemical behaviors of ferri/ferrocyanide, catechol, ascorbic acid, hydroquinone, dopamine epinephrine, acetaminophen, p -aminophernol and NADH were examined by cyclic voltammetry. The results showed that the proposed modified surface catalyzes the oxidation of these compounds. Differential pulse and square wave techniques were used for the analysis of binary mixture of ascorbic acid with catechol, NADH, dopamine and p -aminophenol. Voltammetric peak resolution was also demonstrated for a ternary mixture of ascorbic acid, catechol and p -aminophenol. Polymer coated electrode was also used in an amperometric detector for flow injection analysis of most of the aforementioned compounds. The responses of the polymer electrode were 4–10 times larger as compared to those of platinum. The modified electrode displayed excellent response stability for successive injections and detection limits were 10 ppb for catechol, dopamine, epinephrine, NADH and p -aminophenol, 1 ppb for acetaminophen and 100 ppb for ascorbic acid. Voltammetric peak positions were affected by the nature of the electrolyte and its pH. Also, film thicknesses were shown to be a factor affecting both the current magnitudes and oxidation peak potential of NADH.