Electrochemical properties of catechin at a single-walled carbon nanotubes–cetylramethylammonium bromide modified electrode

The electrochemical properties of catechin at single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)–cetylramethylammonium bromide (CTAB) modified glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The SWNTs–CTAB film was characterized with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A series of parameters including pH of supporting electrolyte, accumulation potential and accumulation time were optimized. There were three peaks of catechin at SWNTs–CTAB/GCE in the potential range of − 0.4–1.0 V in PBS (pH 7.0): a reversible pair of peaks and an irreversible peak of the anodic peak. The reductive peak current increased linearly with the concentration of catechin in the range from 3.72 × 10− 10 to 2.38 × 10− 9 M. The detection limit was 1.12 × 10− 10 M. The SWNTs–CTAB/GCE showed good stability and low detection limit, and could be applied to detect trace catechin.