Electrochemical Investigation of Tryptophan at a Poly(p-aminobenzene sulfonic acid) Film Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with poly(p-aminobenzene sulfonic acid) [Poly(p-ABSA)] film is fabricated by voltammetric technique in phosphate buffer solution (pH 8.0) containing $5.0\;{\times}\;10^{-3}\;mol\;L^{-1}$p- ABSA. Electrochemical behaviors of tryptophan at the Poly(p-ABSA) film electrode are investigated with voltammetry. The results indicate that the electrochemical response of tryptophan is improved significantly in the presence of poly(p-ABSA) film. Compared with the bare glassy carbon electrode, the Poly(p-ABSA) film electrode remarkably enhances the irreversible oxidation peak current of tryptophan. Some parameters such as voltammetric sweeping segments for the electrochemical polymerization, pH, accumulation potential and accumulation time are optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the oxidation peak current is proportional to tryptophan concentration in the range of $1.0\;{\times}\;10^{-7}$ to $1.0\;{\times}\;10^{-6}\;mol\;L^{-1}$, and $2.0\;{\times}\;10^{-6}$ to $1.0\;{\times}\;10^{-5}\;mol\;L^{-1}$ with a detection limit of $7.0\;{\times}\;10^{-8}\;mol\;L^{-1}$. The proposed procedure is successfully applied to the determination of tryptophan in a commercial amino acid oral solution.