Voltammetric determination of citric acid and quinine hydrochloride using polypyrrole–pentacyanonitrosylferrate/platinum electrode

Cyclic voltammetry was used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of citric acid (CA) and quinine hydrochloride (QH) at a polypyrrole-pentacyanoferrate/Platinum (PPY–PCNFe/Pt) electrode in aqueous medium. The analytical plots obtained were found to be linear in the concentration range between 1.0 and 9.0 mM for both the analyte solutions. The detection limits (3δ) were found to be 1.17 × 10−4 M and 1.08 × 10−5 M for CA and QH analyte solutions, respectively. It was further observed that the diffusion of ionic species into and out of the polymeric film made the PPY–PCNFe/Pt electrode highly electroactive thereby enabling it to efficiently detect the analyte solutions having concentration as low as 1 mM.

► The citric acid (CA) and quinine hydrochloride (QH) at PPY–PCNFe/Pt electrode in aqueous medium can be determined using cyclic voltammetry.
► The PPY-PCNFe/Pt electrode exhibits different response in different analyte solutions.
► The electroactivity of PPY-PCNFe film is due to the movements of ions and electrons into and out of the film.
► The detection limits were obtained as 1.17 × 10−4 M and 1.08 × 10−5 M for CA and QH, respectively.