Simultaneous determination of dopamine and uric acid in the presence of ascorbic acid using a gold electrode modified with carboxylated graphene and silver nanocube functionalized polydopamine nanospheres

A voltammetric sensor is presented for the simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA) in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA). It is based on a gold electrode (GE) modified with carboxyl-functionalized graphene (CFG) and silver nanocube functionalized DA nanospheres (AgNC@PDA-NS). The AgNC@PDA-NS nanocomposite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The electrochemical behavior of the modified electrode was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. The modified electrode displays good electrocatalytic activity towards DA (typically at 0.14 V vs. Ag/AgCl) and UA (typically at 0.29 V vs. Ag/AgCl) even in the presence of ascorbic acid. Response to DA is linear in the concentration range of 2.5 to 130 mu M with a detection limit of 0.25 mu M. Response to UA is linear in the concentration range of 10 to 130 mu M with a detection limit of 1.9 mu M. In addition, the sensitivity for DA and UA is 0.538 and 0.156 mu A mu M-1 cm(-2), respectively. The modified electrode also displays good stability, selectivity and reproducibility.