Surface Heterogeneities Matter in Fast Scan Cyclic Voltammetry Investigations of Catecholamines in Brain with Carbon Microelectrodes of High-Aspect Ratio:Dopamine Oxidation at Conical Carbon Microelectrodes

Fast Scan Cyclic Voltammetry (FSCV) at high aspect ratio carbon microelectrodes shows adequate high temporal and spatial resolution for in vivo analysis of catecholamines. Though the presence of their surface heterogeneities has been recognized since their earliest introduction for in vivo measurements in the brain, the kinetic consequences on the measurements have not been investigated and FSCV measurements are treated based on pre- and post-calibrations. We establish here that surface heterogeneities play a consequent dynamic role on the oxidation of dopamine taken as an example of catecholamines. Hence, the FSCV current peak intensities do not scale with the scan rate v or its square root. This is rationalized with a simple model involving a co-existence of at least two types of surface nanodomains with different electrochemical reactivities and different time responses. At low scan rates (