Construction of a graphene nanoplatelets-erbium oxide based voltammetric platform for the sensitive determination of terbutaline

Abstract

This article presents an ultrasonication-assisted construction of a sensitive voltammetric method of analysis for the detection of terbutaline (TER). The voltammetric platform was constructed on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with graphene nanoplatelets (GRNP) and erbium oxide nanoparticles (Er2O3). The GRNP@Er2O3 composite material was characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elemental mapping, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). Both unmodified GCE and GRNP modified GCE exhibited a broad oxidation peak for TER at 0.768 V and 0.763 V, respectively. However, the voltammetry of TER was greatly improved in terms of both electrocatalytic activity and the peak response by the incorporation of Er2O3 nanoparticles into GRNP modified GCE with a sharp peak exhibited at 0.736 V. The proposed platform (Er2O3@GRNP/GCE) yielded a working concentration range of 1.2 × 10−9 M −7.1 × 10−7 M with an LOD of 6.85 × 10−10 M. Voltammetric analysis of tablets yielded a recovery of 99.2 % with an RSD% of 1.0. In addition, average recoveries between 98.5 % and 100.5 % with acceptable RSD% values were calculated for analysis of urine. The proposed method of analysis resulted in accurate and precise measurements for detecting TER in samples.