title: Towards combined electrochemistry and surface-enhanced resonance Raman of heme proteins: Improvement of diffusion electrochemistry of cytochrome c at silver electrodes chemically modified with 4-mercaptopyridine.
abstract: To date, a successful combination of surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy (SERRS) and electrochemistry to study heme proteins is inhibited by the problems raised by the prerequisite to use silver as electrode metal. This paper indicates an approach to overcome these problems. It describes a quick and reproducible procedure to prepare silver electrodes chemically modified with 4-mercaptopyridine suitable to perform diffusion electrochemistry of cytochrome c (cyt c). The method involves the employment of a mechanical and a chemical treatment and avoids the use of alumina slurries and any electrochemical pretreatment. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to test the electrochemical response of cyt c, and the CV signals were found identical with those obtained on gold electrodes under the same experimental conditions. Compared to previous literature, a significant improvement of the CV signal of cyt c at silver electrodes was achieved. Preliminary results show that this treatment can be also successfully employed for the preparation of SERRS-active electrodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Laser Centre, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1083, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Millo
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ranieri
authors.forename: Wynanda
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Koot
authors.forename: Cees
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gooijer
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van der Zwan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D045304:Cytochromes c / Q000737:chemistry*; D004058:Diffusion; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004566:Electrodes; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006321:Heart; D006420:Hemeproteins / Q000032:analysis*; D011725:Pyridines / Q000737:chemistry*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D006420:Hemeproteins; D011725:Pyridines; D012834:Silver; C042861:4-thiopyridine; D006046:Gold; D045304:Cytochromes c