Electrochemical sensor for amino acids and albumin based on composites containing carbon nanotubes and copper microparticles

GUILLERMINA L. LUQUE, NANCY F. FERREYRA AND GUSTAVO A. RIVAS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2007 vol. 71 p. 1282 - 1282

font size="1" face="Times-Roman"> This work reports on the analytical performance of composites obtained by dispersing copper microparticles and multi-wall carbon nanotubeswithin a mineral oil binder (CNTPE-Cu) for the determination of amino acids and albumin. The strong complexing activity of amino acids towards copper makes possible an important improvement in the sensitivity for the determination of amino acids and albumin. This new electrode permits the highly sensitive amperometric detection of amino acids, even the non-electroactive ones, at very low potentials 0.000 V and physiological pH (phosphate buffer solution pH 7.40). The response of the electrode is highly dependent on the amount of copper, demonstrating the crucial role of the metal in the analytical performance of the sensor. The best analytical performance is obtained for the electrode containing 6.0% w/w copper. The resulting sensor shows a fast response (7 s) and a sensitivity that depends on