Nanomolar simultaneous determination of tryptophan and melatonin by a new ionic liquid carbon paste electrode...

This work describes the development of a new sensor for simultaneous determination of tryptophan and melatonin. The proposed sensor was an ionic liquid carbon paste electrode modified with reduced graphene oxides decorated with SnO₂-Co₃O₄ nanoparticles. The voltammetric oxidation of the analytes by the proposed sensor confirmed that the electrooxidation process undergoes a two-electron/one-proton reaction for melatonin and a two-electron/two-proton reaction for tryptophan in diffusion-controlled processes. Moreover, based on the excellent electrochemical properties of the modified electrode, a sensitive voltammetric method was used for individual and simultaneous determination of melatonin and tryptophan in the aqueous solutions. Under the optimized experimental conditions, a linear response obtained in the range of 0.02 to 6.00μmolL^-1 with detection limits of 4.1 and 3.2nmolL^-1 for melatonin and tryptophan, respectively. The prepared sensor possessed accurate and rapid response toward melatonin and tryptophan with a good sensitivity, selectivity, stability, and repeatability. Finally, the applicability of the proposed sensor was verified by evaluation of melatonin and tryptophan in various real samples including human serum and tablet samples.