Modified glassy carbon electrode with Nafion/MWNTs as a sensitive voltammetric sensor for the determination of paeonol in pharmaceutical and biological samples

A simple, highly sensitive method was reported for directly voltammetric determination of paeonol in drug samples and human biological samples. Nafion/multi-wall carbon nanotubes’ (MWNTs) composite film was coated on the glassy carbon electrode. The adsorptive voltammetric behavior of paeonol on the Nafion/MWNTs-modified electrode was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). The results indicated that the Nafion/MWNTs-modified electrode could remarkably enhance electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of paeonol, and showed an excellent resistance capability toward the electrode passivation. A highly sensitive voltammetric sensor was developed for the detection of paeonol in pharmaceutical and biological samples. Under the optimum conditions, the anodic peak current was proportional to paeonol concentration in the range of 6.0 × 10−7–6.0 × 10−5 M with a detection limit of 4.0 × 10−7 M. Some kinetic parameters were determined, and multi-step mechanism for oxidation of paeonol was proposed.