We report the highly selective and sensitive voltammetric dopamine quantification in the presence of ascorbic acid and serotonin by using glassy carbon electrodes modified with a dispersion of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in polyethylenimine, PEI (GCE/MWCNT-PEI). The electrocatalytic
activity of the MWCNT deposited on the glassy carbon electrode has allowed an important decrease in the overvoltages for the oxidation of ascorbic acid and dopamine, making possible a clear definition of dopamine, serotonin and ascorbic acid oxidation processes. The sensitivities for dopamine
in the presence and absence of 1.0 mM ascorbic acid and serotonin were (2.18±0.03 × 105 μAM−1 (r = 0.9998); and (2.10±0.07 × 105 μAM−1 (r = 0.9985), respectively, demonstrating
the excellent performance of the GCE/MWCNT-PEI. The detection limit for dopamine in the mixture was 9.2 × 10−7 M. The R. S. D. for the determination of 50 μM dopamine using four different electrodes was 3.9% when modified with the same MWCNT/PEI dispersion,
and 4.6% when using four different dispersions. The modified electrode has been successfully applied for recovery assays of dopamine in human blood serum. Therefore, the new sensor represents an interesting and promising alternative for the electrochemical quantification of neurotransmitters
and other analytes of clinical interest.