Integrating brucine with carbon nanotubes toward electrochemical sensing of hydroxylamine

Based on the intrinsic electrochemical features of brucine integrated with carbon nanotubes (brucine/SWNTs), dimeric quinoid brucine was electrochemically generated by electroactivation of a brucine/SWNTs-modified GC electrode and used as a novel electrocatalyst for efficient electro-oxidation of hydroxylamine (HA). The electrocatalytic activity was investigated with cyclic voltammetry in the range pH 2.0 to pH 11.0, and the best electrocatalytic performance of the electrocatalyst was obtained at pH 10.0. By taking advantage of the electrocatalytic activity of the dimeric quinoid brucine toward HA, we have developed an electrochemical sensor for HA measurements based on a brucine/SWNTS-modified GC electrode using amperometry with the applied potential of + 0.1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Under the optimized conditions, the current response toward HA concentration shows a linear relationship in the dynamic ranges of 0.1-10 μM and 10-1000 μM with a detection limit of 0.021 μM based on the 3σ criterion. The sensor was used to assay HA in pharmaceuticals including hydroxyurea tablets and pralidoxime iodide injections with satisfactory results. The spike-and-recovery for samples of tap water (n = 9) and lake water (n = 9) was within 97.17-100.16%. Graphical abstract Schematic illustration of electrochemical sensing of hydroxylamine (HA) enabled by integrating brucine with single-walled carbon nanotube (brucine/SWNTs) based on electro-activation of brucine/SWNTs-modified GC electrode.