In the present work, an enhanced electrochemical sensor for dopamine (DA) was developed based on palladium nanoparticles decorated activated fullerene-C60 (AC60/PdNPs) composite modified screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE). The scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis confirmed the formation of PdNPs on AC60. The fabricated AC60/PdNPs composite modified electrode exhibited an enhanced electrochemical response to DA with a lower oxidation potential than that of SPCE modified with PdNPs and C60, indicating the excellent electrooxidation behavior of the AC60/PdNPs composite modified electrode. The electrochemical studies confirmed that the electrooxidation of DA at the composite electrode is a diffusion controlled electrochemical process. The differential pulse voltammetry was employed for the determination of DA; under optimum conditions, the electrochemical oxidation signal of DA increased linearly at the AC60/PdNP5 composite from 0.35 to 133.35 AM. The limit of detection was found as 0.056 mu M with a sensitivity of 4.23 mu A mu M-1 cm(-2). The good recovery of DA in the DA injection samples further revealed the good practicality of AC60/PdNPs modified electrode. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.