Electrocatalysis in the oxidation of acetaminophen with an electrochemically activated glassy carbon electrode

• Published in: Electrochimica acta 2016-02, Vol.192, p.139-147
• Main Authors: Chiavazza, Enrico, Berto, Silvia, Giacomino, Agnese, Malandrino, Mery, Barolo, Claudia, Prenesti, Enrico, Vione, Davide, Abollino, Ornella
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetominophen oxidation; Activated; Activation; Anodization; Anodizing; Electrocatalysis; Electrochemical activation; Electrodes; Glassy carbon; Glassy carbon electrode; Nanostructure; Surface chemistry
• ISSN: 0013-4686; 1873-3859
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.01.187

[Display omitted] •Enhanced sensitivity to acetaminophen using GCE anodically activated.•Critical role of phosphate-borate anion in electrolyte in anodic activation of GCE.•Activation of GCE shows strongly increased oxygen surface functionalization.•Nanomolar detection of acetaminophen in pure water is achieved. A simple approach such as the anodic activation of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) can be used successfully to improve the detection of acetaminophen at very low concentration levels. In this work, we observed that the exposure of a GCE to a high potential (2V vs Ag/AgCl) for a limited time period (60s) in the presence of 50mM borate/phosphate buffer (pH 9) provides a strongly electro-activated surface. The activated surface was characterized by means of several techniques (electrochemistry, EIS, SEM, AFM, μ-Raman, XPS). It appeared that the anodization procedure gave rise to a strong oxygen-based functionalization that did not affect morphologically the electrode surface. The mechanism of interaction of the activated electrode with the analyte was studied by electrochemical methods, then the electrode was applied to the electroanalysis of acetaminophen by differential pulse voltammetry. In this application, the method showed promising analytical performance, detecting nanomolar traces of acetaminophen.