Synthesis of Cerium-Doped Zirconia Nanoparticles for the Electrochemical Detection of Dopamine by Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

Cerium doped zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles are used in the electrochemical investigation of one of the important neurotransmitter Dopamine. Cerium doped ZrO2 nanoparticles finds an interesting application for the electrochemical detection of Dopamine. These cerium doped zirconia nanoparticles were synthesized by environmental benign co-precipitation method. The phase formation and the crystallinity of the synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction and it was in cubic phase. The morphology of the nanoparticles was characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and the particle size was measured by using high resolution transmission microscopy. The average particle size was measured to be 18 nm. Additionally, the effectiveness of cerium doped zirconia nanoparticles modified carbon paste electrode (Ce-ZrO2/MCPE) was evaluated by using cyclic voltammetric technique, to assess the application as electrochemical sensor for Dopamine. Differential pulse voltammetry method is used for the detection of Dopamine, the limit of detection was found to be 3.6 mu mol L-1 based on (S/N=3). This shows high stability and low detection level at modified electrode. In addition, modified electrodes are also been used the detection of Dopamine in real time sample analyses with satisfactory results.