Simultaneous determination of dopamine and uric acid in the presence of high ascorbic acid concentration using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-polyaniline/activated charcoal composite

We describe a simple, low-cost and mass producible composite made up of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) functionalized polyaniline (PANI) and activated charcoal (CTAB-PANI/AC) for simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA). The composite formation was verified through scanning electron microscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and electrochemical methods. The CTAB-PANI/AC composite was used to modify a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and the resulting modified electrode displayed excellent electrocatalytic activity to DA and UA and successfully separates their overlapped voltammetric peaks. The composite completely inhibits the AA signal and does not produce any voltammetric signal for AA up to 2 mM. The DA and UA can be selectively detectable up to detection limits of 0.06 (±0.006) μM and 0.20 (±0.008) μM, respectively. The effects of kinetics, analyte concentration and pH of the supporting electrolyte were investigated and optimized. The modified electrode has appreciable stability, repeatability and reproducibility. Besides, the practical feasibility of the sensor is demonstrated in biological samples, which delivered satisfactory recovery results.