Poly (acridine orange) film modified electrode for the determination 1-naphthol in the presence of 2-naphthol

The voltammetric behavior of 1-naphthol was studied with a poly (acridine orange) (PAO) film modified glass carbon electrode (GCE). The electrooxidation of 1-naphthol was an irreversible process with its oxidation overpotential at the PAO electrode 180 mV lower than that on the GCE. PAO electrode demonstrated electrocatalytic activity to the electrooxidation of 1-naphthol giving a greatly improved detection limit down to 8 × 10−8 mol L−1(S/N = 3). At the optimal experimental condition, the oxidation peak current from the PAO electrode was linearly proportional to the concentration of 1-naphthol in the range of 2 × 10−7 to 3.2 × 10−6 mol L−1 and 5.2 × 10−6 to 1.2 × 10−4 mol L−1. The differences of the oxidation peak potentials between 1-naphthol and the coexisted 2-naphthol was 170 mV allowing the selective detection of 1-naphthol in a mixed solution with 2-naphthol. The detection of 1-naphthol in tap water and river water was carried out with satisfactory results.