Determination of salidroside and tyrosol in Rhodiola by capillary electrophoresis with graphene/poly(urea-formaldehyde) composite modified electrode.

This report describes the fabrication and application of a novel graphene/poly(urea-formaldehyde) composite modified electrode as a sensitive amperometric detector of CE. The composite electrode was fabricated on the basis of the in situ polycondensation of a mixture of graphenes and urea-formaldehyde prepolymers on the surface of a platinum disc electrode. It was coupled with CE for the separation and detection of salidroside and tyrosol in Rhodiola, a traditional Chinese medicine, to demonstrate its feasibility and performance. Salidroside and tyrosol have been well separated within 6 min in a 40 cm long capillary at a separation voltage of 12 kV using a 50 mM borate buffer (pH 9.8). The prepared graphene-based CE detector offered significantly lower detection potential, yielded enhanced signal-to-noise characteristics, and exhibited high resistance to surface fouling and enhanced stability. It showed long-term stability and reproducibility with relative standard deviations of less than 5% for the peak current (n = 15).