Selective Determination of Dopamine in Presence of Ascorbic Acid Using Nafion Coated Methylene Blue Functionalized Graphite Electrode

Abstract

An electrochemical sensor has been developed using methylene blue (MB) unctionalized graphite for the selective determination of dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid. The immobilization of methylene blue on graphite was done by carbodiimide coupling method. The methylene blue functionalized graphite was characterized by SEM, FTIR spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy. The immobilization of methylene blue functionalized graphite (MB-G) on the electrode surface was made by drop casting a small volume of MB-G dispersed methanol solution on the electrode surface. About 5 L of 0.5 % Nafion solution was also dropcasted for the stability and selectivity. The MB-G modified electrode was characterized by cyclic voltammetry. The modified electrode promotes the electrocatalytic oxidation of dopamine at a lower potential of 160 mV. The selective determination of dopamine in the presence of 100 times higher concentration of ascorbic acid was achieved by differential pulse voltammetry. The modified electrode offered a simple, selective and sensitive determination of low levels of dopamine. Also the oxidation over potential was reduced to an extent of 360 mV comparing with the bare graphite electrode. The proposed sensor has the advantage of easy fabrication, low cost, good sensitivity, reproducibility and stability.