We report here a highly selective enzymeless approach for the determination of phosphate (PO(4)(3-)) by flow injection analysis (FIA). In this system, the activation of barrel plated nickel electrode (Ni-BPE) in alkaline media to form a Ni(OH)(2)/NiO(OH) film was found to trigger the adsorption of phosphate at the electrode surface. Based on the suppressed current of the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose at the activated Ni-BPE in 0.1 M NaOH solution caused by adsorption of phosphate, we develop an FIA detection scheme for the determination of phosphate. Under the optimized conditions of flow rate = 300 microL/min and detection potential = 0.55 V vs Ag/AgCl with 25 microM glucose in 0.1 M NaOH as carrier solution, the calibration curve showed a linear range up to 1 mM. Possible interferences from the coexisting ions were also investigated. The results demonstrated that sensor could be used for the determination of phosphate in the presence of nitrate, chloride, sulfate, acetate, oxalate, carbonate, and some anionic species of toxicological and environmental interest, such as chlorate, chromate, and arsenate ions. The electrode can be effectively regenerated without extra treatment under the hydrodynamic condition. For eight continuous injections of 40 microM PO(4)(3-), a relative standard deviation of 0.28% was obtained, indicating good reproducibility of the proposed method. The detection limit (S/N = 3) was calculated as 0.3 microM.

Peak overlap in voltammetry poses challenges for the quantitative analysis of electroactive species. Dopamine and uric acid are typically challenging to determine voltammetrically because of their very similar oxidation peak potentials. We report preliminary results of the use of a screen-printed carbon electrode for the determination of dopamine and uric acid in an electrolyte solution maintained above ambient temperatures. Higher temperatures resulted in dramatic shifting of the dopamine oxidation peak toward lower potentials, while the uric acid peak was essentially stationary. Ascorbic acid, an interference in voltammetric uric acid determinations, is effectively suppressed at higher temperatures. This resulted in a greater peak separation of dopamine from uric acid at higher temperatures, which is desirable for better peak integration. In addition, greater current responses for both species were recorded at higher temperatures. The cause for such an increase in peak current is unraveled using ac impedance measurements. Presented are preliminary results for determining dopamine and uric acid at temperatures higher than ambient. Much improved voltammetric peak separation and sensitivity is obtained at these higher temperatures compared to ambient.

We report amperometric determination of sugars by using a disposable barrel plating nickel electrode (Ni-BPE) in this study. The activated Ni-BPE possesses good reproducibility in flow injection analysis of sugars with a relative standard deviation of 3.16% for 10 consecutive injections of glucose. The electrocatalytic mechanism for the detection of sugars as well as the use as a detector in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is investigated. We achieve a good separation of four sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose, and maltose) in HPLC with favorable sensitivity at a detection potential of þ 0.55 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The results of wide linear calibration ranges and detection limits in the mM range meet the need of real sample analysis. This detection method is successfully used for quantitative determination of sugars in honey to identify its authentication.

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We introduce here the application of barrel plating technology for mass production of disposable-type electrodes. Easy for mass production, barrel plating rhodium electrode (Rh-BPE) is for the first time demonstrated for analytical application. Hydrazine was chosen as a model analyte to elucidate the electrocatalytic and analytical ability of the Rh-BPE system in pH 7 phosphate buffer solution. Flow injection analysis (FIA) of hydrazine showed a linear calibration range of 25 -1000 ppb with a slope and a regression coefficient of 5 nA/ppb and 0.9946, respectively. Twenty-two replicate injections of 25 ppb hydrazine showed a relative standard deviation of 3.17% indicating a detection limit (S/ N ¼ 3) of 2.5 ppb. The system can be continuously operated for 1 day without any alteration in the FIA signals and is tolerable to the interference of oxalic acid, gelatine, Triton X-100, and albumin for even up to 100 times excess in concentration with respect to 400 ppb hydrazine. Since the fabrication cost of the electrode is cheap, it is thus disposable in nature. Furthermore, barrel plating technique can be extendable to other transition metals for application in many fields of research interest.