Electrochemical polymerization of azure blue II and its electrocatalytic activity toward NADH oxidation

Poly (azure blue II) (PABII) thin film modified electrode was successfully assembled on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode by means of electrochemical polymerization, which was carried out with cyclic voltammetric sweeping in the potential range of - 0.6 to + 1.3 V (vs. SCE) in Britton-Robinson buffer solution (pH = 9.8) containing 1.25 ± 10–⁴ mol/L azure blue II. The effect of pH on the polymerization process of azure blue II and the electrochemical characteristics of the polymer-modified electrodes were studied in detail. The experimental results indicated that the electropolymerization of azure blue II could take place in basic or neutral media. The cyclic voltammograms of poly (azure blue II) thin film modified electrode showed the presence of two couples of redox peaks. The film modified electrode exhibited potent and persistent electrocatalysis for oxidation of dihydronicotiamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) in phosphate buffer media with a diminution of the overpotential of about 410 mV and an increase in peak current. The presence of some divalent cations in an electrolyte can greatly enhance the electrocatalytic current for oxidation of NADH. The electrocatalytic current increased linearly with NADH concentration from 1.0 ± 10–⁵ to 8.0 ± 10–³ mol/L in the presence of 4.0 ± 10–² mol/L Mg²⁺ cation. The detection limit (3s_b1/S) was 5.0 ± 10–⁶ mol/L, and the relative standard deviation of determination results was 4.2% for six successive determinations of 5.0 ± 10–⁴ mol/L NADH in the presence of Mg²⁺ cation.