Abstract
Purpose: Drug-abuse, namely morphine (MO) affects the metabolism of neurotransmitters such as dopamine (DA). Therefore, it is crucial to devise a sensitive sensing technique to simultaneously determine both compounds in real samples. Methods: The fabrication of the sensor is based on in situ modification of a carbon paste (CP) electrode with cobalt oxide nanoparticles, graphene, and ionic liquid crystal in presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate; CoGILCCP-SDS. The modified sensor is characterized using scanning electron microscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and voltammetry measurements. Results: Electron transfer kinetics and analytical performance of the proposed sensor were enhanced due to the synergistic role of all the modifiers. The simultaneous determination of MO and DA achieved low detection limits of 0.54 nmol L−1 and 0.25 nmol L−1, respectively. Besides, a carbon-based electrochemical sensor is fabricated for the nano-molar determination of MO in real samples and formulations. The sensor showed fouling resistance and anti-interference ability in presence of other species in human fluids. The real sample analysis of MO was successfully achieved with good recovery results in urine samples and pharmaceutical tablets. Linear dynamic range, sensitivity, detection limit and quantification limit of MO in urine were 5 nmol L−1 to 0.6 μmol L−1, 6.19 μA/μmol L-1, 0.484 nmol L−1 and 1.61 nmol L−1, respectively. Conclusion: This sensor has great ability to be extended for electrochemical applications in assaying of many drugs.
Highlights
Morphine (MO), the main ingredient of opium poppy, is mainly responsible of poisoning and death cases for those with a drug addiction and abuse history
While a slight increase in the anodic peak current with broad oxidation peak and high overpotential was obtained upon individually modifying carbon paste (CP) with graphene, cobalt oxide nanoparticles or Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) (GCP, CoCP or ILCCP)
The collective inclusion of graphene, ILC and cobalt oxide nanoparticles (CoGILCCP) resulted in higher current response and lower overpotential compared to the single effect of each modifier
Summary
Morphine (MO), the main ingredient of opium poppy, is mainly responsible of poisoning and death cases for those with a drug addiction and abuse history. It is frequently used as a relief of moderate to severe pains. MO uptake leads to some side effects namely; dizziness, stomach pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, anxiety and mild itching.[1,2,3,4] In forensic cases, existence of MO in blood or urine is an index of heroin uptake.[5] So, it is very vital to develop methods for sensitive and selective determination of MO. Many methods have been utilized for this purpose like ultraviolet spectroscopy,[6] chromatography-tandem spectrometry,[7] thin layer chromatography,[8] radioimmunoassay,[9] surface plasma resonance,[10] and electrochemical methods.[11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]
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