Electropolymerization of negatively charged Ni(II) complex for the selective determination of dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid

Electrodes for the dopamine (DA) determination in biological samples have been developed with improved selectivity and sensitivity in an excess of ascorbic acid (AA). Negatively charged Ni(II) complex was synthesized and electropolymerized on the glassy carbon electrode to impart the surface with anionic characteristics that could act both as a catalyst and as a discriminating layer against AA based on the electrostatic interaction. Thus prepared electrodes enabled selective determination of DA even in a large excess of AA by differential pulse voltammetry at physiological pH. Linear response was found down to 1.0 × 10− 7 M with 5.0 × 10− 9 M of LOD (Limit of Detection). In a flow injection analysis performed in an amperometric mode, the detection limit was lowered by two orders of magnitude down to 1.0 × 10− 9 M with a linear range of 1.0 × 10− 9 to 1.0 × 10− 6 M. The relative standard deviation was found to be 3.36% from 25 independent measurements for 1.0 × 10− 5 M of DA. Stable oxidation current of DA was observed even after 30 days storage in air. The recoveries of DA in the 100-fold diluted human urine samples were 97.7% for 4 measurements. The rate constant for the DA oxidation was 1.3 × 10− 3 cm s− 1 from hydrodynamic experiments using a rotating disk electrode.