Designing a novel electrochemical sensor based on Ni and Mg co-doped ZnO nanoparticles for the detection and quantification of cysteamine from bodily fluids

Abstract

The current work reports a novel approach for the development of an electrochemical sensor based on Ni and Mg-co-doped ZnO nanoparticles (ZNMO) to detect and quantify cysteamine (CA). The chemical co-precipitation strategy was used to synthesize zinc oxide co-doped with magnesium and nickel which can be used as a catalyst material. FTIR, XRD, XPS, BET and SEM-EDX examinations were used to confirm the produced material. The surface of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with ZNMO nanoparticles, resulting in a remarkable improvement in the surface area of the electrodes which in turn improved the response for CA compared to previously reported studies. This enhancement can be attributed to the superior catalytic activity of the material in electro-oxidizing CA. The electrochemical studies were carried out using the analytical techniques like cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry using 0.1 M phosphate buffer saline as a supporting medium. This fabricated sensor, ZNMO nanoparticles modified GCE (ZNMO/GCE) has shown superior sensing characteristics, including high selectivity, sensitivity, stability, and repeatability, for the identification and quantification of CA. The sensor successfully confirmed the diffusion-controlled electrode technique. It exhibited the widest linear range, spanning from 1 nM to 2500 μM, which is the most impressive result ever reported. The limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be 0.75 nM. Additionally, at the developed sensor, a real-sample analysis was conducted using biological fluids. Hence, the fabricated ZNMO/GCE showed excellent electrocatalytic performance for CA sensing, making it suitable for real-time monitoring.