Electrocatalytic Study of Paracetamol at a Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube/Nickel Nanocomposite Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

Joon Ching Juan,Wee Tee Tan,Zulkarnain Zainal,Koh Sing Ngai,Ruzniza Mohd Zawawi

doi:10.1155/2015/742548

Abstract

A rapid, simple, and sensitive method for the electrochemical determination of paracetamol was developed. A single-walled carbon nanotube/nickel (SWCNT/Ni) nanocomposite was prepared and immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface via mechanical attachment. This paper reports the voltammetry study on the effect of paracetamol concentration, scan rate, pH, and temperature at a SWCNT/Ni-modified electrode in the determination of paracetamol. The characterization of the SWCNT/Ni/GCE was performed by cyclic voltammetry. Variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometer were used to examine the surface morphology and elemental profile of the modified electrode, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry showed significant enhancement in peak current for the determination of paracetamol at the SWCNT/Ni-modified electrode. A linear calibration curve was obtained for the paracetamol concentration between 0.05 and 0.50 mM. The SWCNT/Ni/GCE displayed a sensitivity of 64 mA M−1and a detection limit of 1.17 × 10−7 M in paracetamol detection. The proposed electrode can be applied for the determination of paracetamol in real pharmaceutical samples with satisfactory performance. Results indicate that electrodes modified with SWCNT and nickel nanoparticles exhibit better electrocatalytic activity towards paracetamol.

Highlights

The demand for new sensor materials is increasing due to the growing electrochemical industry
The single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)/Ni nanofilm that was deposited on the basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrode (BPPGE) was examined using Variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM)
It is apparent from the figure that the irregularly shaped SWCNT/Ni nanocomposite was distributed on the graphite surface in bundles with diameters in the range of 1 to 4 μm

Summary

Introduction

The demand for new sensor materials is increasing due to the growing electrochemical industry. Research on modified electrodes with nanomaterials has been conducted with different types of nanoparticles [8, 9], carbon nanotubes (CNTs) [10,11,12,13,14], and composites of nanomaterials [15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]. CNTs have unique properties, such as superior thermal and electrical conductivities, excellent physicochemical properties, and high surface area [12, 13]. The single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT), a one-dimensional nanostructured material, is widely used in electrode modification due to its high surface to volume ratio. CNT modified electrodes have been evaluated and are considered to have good sensitivity and reproducibility [12, 13, 25]

Methods

Results

Conclusion