DNA Determination in the Presence of Copper in Diluted Alkaline Electrolyte by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry at the Mercury Film Electrode

A stripping method for the determination of single‐stranded DNA in presence of copper at the submicromolar concentration levels is described. The method is based on controlled adsorptive accumulation of adenine (from acid‐treated DNA) at thin‐film mercury electrode followed by linear scan voltammetry measurement of the surface species. Optimum experimental conditions were found to be the use of a 5.0×10−3 M NaOH solution, an accumulation potential of −0.40 V and a scan rate of 200 mV s−1. The response of adenine–copper is linear over the concentration range 50–250 ppb. For an accumulation time of 15 minutes, the detection limit was found to be 4 ppb. The more convenient relation to measuring the ssDNA in presence of metals and nitrogenated bases were also investigated. The utility of the method is demonstrated by the presence of adenosine‐triphosphate (ATP) and amino acids.