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Screen-printed electrodes modified with carbon nanotubes or graphene for simultaneous determination of melatonin and serotonin

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Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and graphene have been tested as carbon allotropes for the modification of carbon screen-printed electrodes (CSPEs) to simultaneously determine melatonin (MT) and serotonin (5-HT). Two groups of CSPEs, both 4 mm in diameter, were explored: The first includes commercial SWCNT, MWCNT and graphene, the second includes SWCNT, MWCNT, graphene oxide nanoribbons and reduced nanoribbons that were drop casted on the electrodes. The carbon nanomaterials enhanced the electroactive area in the following order: CSPE <MWCNTs <SWCNTs <graphene. This allowed the simultaneous determination of 5-HT and MT at the working potentials of +50 mV and +390 mV (vs. Ag), respectively. The use of carbon nanomaterials, in particular of graphene oxide nanoribbons on CSPEs, represents an excellent and disposable tool for sensing the two target molecules in even small sample volumes. Figures of merit for MT and 5-HT include (a) detection limit of 1.1 and 0.4 μM for MT and 5-HT, respectively; (b) an inter-electrode reproducibility with RSD ≤ 8 %; (c) 120 s response time, and (d) recoveries (in case of spiked samples) ranging from 94 to 103 % (with an RSD < 1 %).

Carbon nanomaterials on screen-printed electrodes: smart electrochemistry for fast, simultaneous and reliable detection of serotonin the molecule of happiness and melatonin the molecule of darkness.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CTQ2011-28135) and from the NANOAVANSENS program from the Community of Madrid (S2013/MIT-3029). D. Federico Jose Vicente Gomez acknowledges BIP TII fellowship received from CONICET and D. Aída Martín acknowledges the FPU fellowship received from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. The authors acknowledge to Dra. María Teresa Martínez and Dr. Javier Hernández-Ferrer from Instituto de Carboquímica ICB-CSIC of Zaragoza (Spain) for supplying GON and GRN samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Alcalá, 28871, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

    Federico José Vicente Gomez, Aída Martín & Alberto Escarpa

  2. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza (IBAM-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, 5505, Mendoza, Argentina

    Federico José Vicente Gomez & María Fernanda Silva

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  1. Federico José Vicente Gomez
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  2. Aída Martín
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  3. María Fernanda Silva
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  4. Alberto Escarpa
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Correspondence to Alberto Escarpa.

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Gomez, F.J.V., Martín, A., Silva, M.F. et al. Screen-printed electrodes modified with carbon nanotubes or graphene for simultaneous determination of melatonin and serotonin. Microchim Acta 182, 1925–1931 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1520-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1520-x

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