Based on the excellent physicochemical properties of boron-doped carbon nanotubes (BCNTs), the electrochemical analysis of four free DNA bases at the BCNTs modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode was investigated. Herein, the BCNTs/GC electrode exhibited remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of purine bases (guanine (G), adenine (A)). More significantly, the direct oxidation of pyrimidine bases (thymine (T), cytosine (C)) was realized. It may be due to that BCNTs have the advantages of high electron transfer kinetics, large surface area, prominent antifouling ability and electrode activity. On basis of this, a novel and simple strategy for the determination of G, A, T and C was proposed. The BCNTs/GC electrode showed high sensitivity, wide linear range and capability of detection for the electrochemical determination of G, A, T, and C. On the other hand, the electrochemical oxidation of quaternary mixture of G, A, T, and C at the BCNTs/GC electrode was investigated. It was obtained that the peak separation between G and A, A and T, T and C were large enough for their potential recognition in mixture without any separation or pretreatment. The BCNTs/GC electrode also displayed good stability, reproducibility and excellent anti-interferent ability. Therefore, it can be believed that the BCNTs/GC electrode would provide a potential application for the electrochemical detection of DNA in the field of genetic-disease diagnosis.
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