In the present work, different shaped CuO nanoparticles were synthesized using cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in a co-precipitation method. The CuO nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared absorption spectroscopy (IR) and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis). The prepared CuO nanoparticles were used for the preparation of modified carbon-paste electrodes (MCPE) for the electrochemical detection of dopamine (DA) at pH 6.0. The MCPE prepared from flake-shaped CuO nanoparticles exhibited an enhanced current response for DA. Electrochemical parameters, such as the surface area of the electrode, the heterogeneous rate constant (k(s)) and the lower detection limit (5.5 x 10(-8) M), were calculated and compared with those of the MCPE prepared from rod-shaped CuO nanoparticles. The MCPE prepared from SDS/polyglycine/flake-shaped CuO nanoparticles exhibited a further improved current response for DA and a high selectivity (E-AA-E-DA = 0.28 V) for the simultaneous investigation of DA and ascorbic acid (AA) at pH 6.0. The modified carbon-paste electrochemical sensors were compared, and the MCPE prepared from SDS/polyglycine/flake-shaped CuO nanoparticles exhibited better performance than the MCPE prepared from CTAB/polyglycine/flake-shaped CuO nanoparticles. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.