Electro-catalytic Oxidation of Catechol at Poly(1-amino-9,10-anthraquinone)-SDS Composite Film

An electro-chemically active composite film containing the environmentally friendly surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and poly(1-amino-9,10-anthraquinone) (PAAQ) is used as an electron transfer mediator in the electro-chemical oxidation of catechol. Compared with the bare platinum (Pt) electrode, the Pt/PAAQ-SDS modified electrode remarkably lowers the anodic peak potential of catechol, and increases the peak currents. The results obtained indicate that the activation energy for the electro-chemical oxidation of catechol at the polymer film is low (7.05 kJ mol-1). The influence of the operational conditions on the response current of the catechol sensor is also investigated. Studying the surface morphology of the modified electrode reveals a more porous structure for it due to the incorporation of the anionic surfactant on the PAAQ film. The modified electrode displays a linear response in the concentration range of 0.01-8.0 mM for catechol. A lower detection limit was obtained to be 2.60 μM. The ability of the modified electrode is also examined for the electro-chemical detection of hydroquinone (HQ) with simplicity.