OPTIMIZATION OF WAVE-FORMS FOR PULSED AMPEROMETRIC DETECTION OF CARBOHYDRATES BASED ON PULSED VOLTAMMETRY

Liquid chromatography (LC) with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) at Au electrodes has gained prominence for analysis of complex mixtures of polyalcohols and carbohydrates. The most commonly used PAD waveform consists of three potentials and four time parameters, all of which can be varied independently but the effects of which are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Choice of potential values in PAD waveforms has traditionally been based on cyclic voltammetry (CV). However, CV data are useless for educing optimal values for time parameters, and these values are usually approximated using the trial-and-error method during multiple injections in LC-PAD systems. An automated procedure is described for optimization of all potential and time parameters in PAD waveforms on the basis of pulsed voltammetry (PV) at a rotated disk electrode (RDE). General and optimized waveforms are presented for detection of carbohydrates, and effects on LC-PAD response are illustrated.