Abstract
Poly (acridine orange) (PAO) film–modified electrode was prepared by the electrooxidation of Acridine orange on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for the detection of hydroquinone in the presence of o‐hydroquinone and m‐hydroquinone. The electrochemical behavior of hydroquinone on the modified electrode was investigated with respect to different solution acidity, scan rate, and accumulation time. A pair of sharp and well‐defined peaks was obtained at 0.45 and 0.42 V [vs. a saturated calomel electrode (SCE)] at the PAO film–modified electrode. The potential difference between this pair of cathodic and anodic peaks was decreased to only 30 mV as compared to the 241 mV that was obtained on the bare glassy carbon electrode (GCE). As to o‐hydroquinone and m‐hydroquinone, their corresponding oxidation peaks appeared at 0.55 V and 0.89 V (vs. SCE), respectively. The oxidation potential differences between these three isomers enabled the separate detection of hydroquinone. Under the optimum experimental situation, the oxidation peak current of hydroquinone was proportional to the concentration at the range of 6.8×10−7–9.6×10−5 M. The detection limit was been estimated as 3×10−7 M with 130 s accumulation. This method was applied to the hydroquinone detection in tap water samples.