Ion-exchange chromatography combined with direct current amperometric detection at CuNPs/reduced graphene oxide–chitosan composite film modified electrode for determination of monosaccharide composition of polysaccharides from Phellinus igniarius

A novel Cu nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide–chitosan (CuNPs/r-GO–chitosan) composite film modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was fabricated by dispersing CuNPs uniformly on a stable r-GO–chitosan thin film through electrodeposition process. The modified electrode was characterized by cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and exhibited efficiently electrocatalytic oxidation toward monosaccharides with high stability. The good electrocatalytic activity of this modified electrode might be attributed to the synergistic effect of r-GO and CuNPs, and the stability might be attributed to the r-GO and chitosan thin matrix film. When the CuNPs/r-GO–chitosan/GCE was used as an electrochemical sensor in high performance anion exchange chromatography-direct current amperometric detection (HPAEC-DC) flowing system for the determination of monosaccharides under constant working potential of +0.55 V, the detection limits (S/N=3) ranged from 0.006 to 0.02 mg L−1 for the analyzed sugars, and the dynamic linear ranges spanned from 0.02 to 500 mg L−1. The proposed method has been applied for the determination of monosaccharide composition of crude polysaccharides from phellinus igniarius real samples, and the results were satisfactory.