In this study, a
glassy carbon electrode was modified potentiodynamically
with poly(8-aminonaphthaline-2-sulfonic acid) [poly(ANSA)/GCE] for
the detection of norfloxacin (NFN) in tablet formulations and human
urine samples. Improvement of the effective surface area of the modified
electrode and decreased charge-transfer resistance confirmed surface
modification of the GCE by a conductive poly(ANSA) film. The appearance
of an oxidative peak without a reductive peak in the reverse scan
direction showed the irreversibility of the electrochemical oxidation
of NFN in both the bare GCE and poly(ANSA)/GCE. A better coefficient
of determination for the peak current on the square root of the scan
rate (R
2 = 0.99514) than the scan rate
(R
2 = 0.97109), indicating the oxidation
of NFN at the poly(ANSA)/GCE, was predominantly diffusion mass transport-controlled.
Under optimized pH and square wave parameters, the voltammetric current
response of NFN at the poly(ANSA)/GCE showed linear dependence on
the concentration, ranging from 1.0 × 10–8 to
4.0 × 10–4 M with a limit of detection of 4.1
× 10–10. The NFN level in the studied tablet
brands was in the range of 90.30–103.3% of their labeled values.
Recovery results in tablet and urine samples ranged from 98.35 to
101.20% and 97.75 to 99.60%, respectively, and interference recovery
results were less than 2.13% error in the presence of ampicillin,
chloroquine phosphate, and cloxacillin. The present method had a better
performance for the determination of NFN in tablet formulations and
urine samples as compared with recently reported voltammetric methods
due to its requirement of a simple electrode modification step, which
provides the least limit of detection and a reasonably wider linear
dynamic range.