Preparation of a sol–gel-derived carbon nanotube ceramic electrode by microwave irradiation and its application for the determination of adenine and guanine

In this study, microwave irradiation was used for the fast preparation (min) of a sol–gel-derived carbon nanotube ceramic electrode (MW-CNCE). For confirmation of the preparation of the ceramic by MW irradiation, Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction spectra and scanning electron microscopy images of the produced ceramic were compared with those of conventional ceramic (which is produced by drying the ceramic in air for 48 h). The electrochemical behavior of MW-CNCE in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, l-cysteine, adenine and guanine was compared with that of a conventional sol–gel-derived carbon nanotube ceramic electrode (CNCE). In all systems, similar peak potentials and lower background currents were obtained with respect to CNCE. Finally, the MW-CNCE was used for the simultaneous determination of adenine and guanine using differential pulse voltammetry. The linear ranges of 0.1–10 and 0.1–20 μM were obtained for adenine and guanine, respectively. These results are comparable with some modified electrodes that have recently been reported for the determination of adenine and guanine, with the advantage that the proposed electrode did not contain modifier. In addition, the proposed electrode was successfully used for the oxidation of adenine and guanine in DNA, and the detection limit for this measurement was 0.05 μg mL−1 DNA.