Study on electrochemical behavior of tryptophan at a glassy carbon electrode modified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes embedded cerium hexacyanoferrate

Electrochemical behavior of cerium hexacyanoferrate (CeHCF) incorporated on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) modified GC electrode is investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical techniques. The CeHCF/MWNT/GC electrode showed potent electrocatalytic activity toward the electrochemical oxidation of tryptophan in phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.0) with a diminution of the overpotential of 240 mV. The anodic peak currents increased linearly with the concentration of tryptophan in the range of 2.0 × 10−7 to 1.0 × 10−4 M with a detection limit of 2.0 × 10−8 M (at a S/N = 3). And the determination of tryptophan in pharmaceutical samples was satisfactory.