Comparison of the voltammetric behavior of metronidazole at a DNA-modified glassy carbon electrode, a mercury thin film electrode and a glassy carbon electrode

The electroanalytical performance at three electrodes: DNA-modified glassy carbon electrode, mercury thin film electrode and glassy carbon electrode, for the study of the electrochemical reduction of metronidazole is compared. All three electrodes showed a similar trend in the reduction mechanism for metronidazole, dependent on pH in the acid and neutral region and independent. in alkaline media, although there was a shift in the peak potentials to more negative values when a bare glassy carbon electrode was used compared to the other two. Besides the advantage of using a solid electrode for the reduction of metronidazole, the DNA-modified glassy carbon electrode enables a lower detection limit of 1.0 mu M owing to the preconcentration of the drug on the electrode surface, which is not the case for the: mercury thin film or bare glassy carbon electrodes.