Voltammetric behavior and determination of estrogens at Nafion-modified glassy carbon electrode in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

Abstract A method is described for the determination of estrogens (estradiol, estrone and estriol) by stripping voltammetry. These estrogens yield one well-defined oxidation peak at the Nafion-modified glassy carbon electrode in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The peak current is proportional to the concentration of estradiol in the range from 2.5×10 −8 to 1.5×10 −6  mol/l, and the detection limit is 1×10 −9  mol/l after accumulation of 6 min. The total amounts of estrogens in the blood serums were determined using the voltammetric method, and the average recovery was 106.04%. The mechanism of the oxidation of estradiol was investigated by electrochemical techniques and UV spectra.