Meiqin Zhang

DIRECT PROTEINS ELECTROCHEMISTRY BASED ON IONIC LIQUID MEDIATED CARBON NANOTUBE MODIFIED GLASSY CARBON ELECTRODE

A novel glassy carbon electrode modified by a gel containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and ionic liquid of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIPF6) is reported. The gel is formed by grinding of MWNTs and BMIPF6. Such gel is then coated on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode. We have employed scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and cyclic voltammetry to characterize the modified electrode. The direct electron transfers of hemoglobin and catalase on the modified electrode have been observed and studied in detail electrochemically. Hemoglobin is verified to be adsorbed on the modified electrode with the retention of conformation, which has been proved by microscopic FTIR. The electrochemical response of the adsorbed hemoglobin on the modified electrode is very stable, and shows repeated changes in the different pH solutions. It also has shown electrocatalysis to the reduction of oxygen and trichloroacetic acid. Catalase adsorbed on the gel modified electrode still keep activity to hydrogen peroxide. This work provides a simple and easy approach to construct biosensors based on the carbon nanotubes and ionic liquids.

Effects of solution viscosity on heterogeneous electron transfer across a liquid/liquid interface

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is employed to investigate the effect of solution viscosity on the rate constants of electron transfer (ET) reaction between potassium ferricyanide in water and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) in 1,2-dichloroethane. Either tetrabutylammonium (TBA(+)) or ClO4- is chosen as the common ion in both phases to control the interfacial potential drop. The rate constant of heterogeneous ET reaction between TCNQ and ferrocyanide produced in-situ, k(12), is evaluated by SECM and is inversely proportional to the viscosity of the aqueous solution and directly proportional to the diffusion coefficient of K4Fe(CN)(6) in water when the concentration of TCNQ in the DCE phase is in excess. The k(12) dependence on viscosity is explained in terms of the longitudinal relaxation time of the solution. The rate constant of the heterogeneous ET reaction between TCNQ and ferricyanide, k(21), is also obtained by SECM and these results cannot be explained by the same manner.

Study of ionizable drugs transfer across the water/ 1,2-dichloroethane interface with phase volume ratio equal to unity using a three-electrode system

The electrochemical behavior of ionizable drugs (Amitriptyline, Diphenhydramine and Trihexyphenedyl) at the water/1,2-dichloroethane interface with the phase volume ratio (r = Vo/Vw) equal to 1 are investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The system is composed of an aqueous droplet supported at an Ag/AgCl disk electrode and it was covered with an organic solution. In this manner, a conventional three-electrode potentiostat can be used to study the ionizable drugs transfer process at a liquid/liquid interface. Physicochemical parameters such as the formal transfer potential, the Gibbs energy of transfer and the standard partition coefficients of the ionized forms of these drugs can be evaluated from cyclic voltammograms obtained. The obtained results have been summarized in ionic partition diagrams, which are a useful tool for predicting and interpreting the transfer mechanisms of ionizable drugs at the liquid/liquid interfaces and biological membranes.