Studies on electrochemical oxidation of estrogenic disrupting compound bisphenol AF and its interaction with human serum albumin

Bisphenol AF (BPAF) is an environmental pollutant to disrupt endocrine system or cause cancer, thus the detection of trace BPAF is very important. In this study, a simple and highly sensitive electroanalytical method for the determination of BPAF was developed. In pH 6.0 phosphate buffer solutions, carboxyl functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-COOH) modified glassy carbon electrode exhibits an enhanced effectiveness for the oxidation of BPAF. This electrode exhibited two linear relationships with BPAF concentration range of 0.02 μmol L−1 to 8.0 μmol L−1 and a detection limit of 0.0077 μmol L−1 (S/N = 3). The proposed method was successfully applied to determine BPAF in real samples and the results were satisfactory. The MWCNT-COOH/GCE electrode showed good reproducibility, stability and anti-interference. The electrochemistry and spectroscopy methods are also described for the evaluation of BPAF-HSA interaction. In the presence of HSA, the peak currents of BPAF decreased linearly due to the formation of a super-molecular complex. The binding constant between BPAF and HSA, obtained by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), was consistent with the fluorescence analysis. The molecular modeling studies were carried out to clearly describe the interaction between BPAF and HSA.