Boron carbide decorated tungsten disulfide nanosheet composite for determination of chloramphenicol in food and pharmaceutical samples

Abstract

Making the nanocomposites of metal oxides or metal sulfides with carbon source materials has a huge impact on the electrochemical determination of toxic chemicals. To determine the adverse side effects of the antibiotics, electrochemical sensors have been used as they can peek into the sensitivity of the drug sample. This work has done the sensitive amperometric evaluation of a chloramphenicol antibiotic by modifying the electrode of tungsten disulfide decorated boron carbide. Here, tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanosheets and boron carbide (B4C) materials were synthesized by conventional methods which give a good amount of yield. The composite was prepared by the green and cost-effective sonochemical approach with good morphology. The conductivity of the nanocomposite and the response to chloramphenicol were determined by cyclic voltammetry. The sensitivity, limit of detection (LOD), and the linear range were observed by the highly sensitive amperometric technique. From the amperometric analysis, the prepared nanocomposite shows nominal LOD as a 17.4 nM, a broad linear range (0.025–1134.6 µM), and good sensitivity of 1.52 µA µM−1 cm−2. Practicability of the modified sensor was studied in food and pharmaceutical samples with adequate recovery performances. Moreover, the modified electrode shows good stability, repeatability, reproducibility, and anti-interfering properties against the array of food and biological interferences.