Development of manganese oxide nanoparticles based chemical sensor for sensitive determination of an antiviral drug valaciclovir

Abstract

The electrochemical analysis of valaciclovir (VAL) was carried out by electro-deposition of manganese oxide nanoparticles on glassy carbon electrode (MnO2/GCE). The surface morphology of prepared sensor material was analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Effects of scan rate, solution pH, and concentration variation on the electrochemical behaviour of VAL were studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The increase in anodic current by the use of a modified electrode (5.76 μA) compared with the peak current of bare GCE (1.18 μA) confirms the enhancement of the surface area and catalytic property of manganese oxide nanoparticles. A linear response in the concentration of VAL was observed by DPV from 1.0 × 10−8 M to 14.0 × 10−6 M at the sensor. The limit of detection and quantification were found to be 0.95 nM and 3.17 nM, respectively. The real-world application of the sensor was validated by applying for pharmaceutical and real sample analysis. Thus, it has been proved that the proposed electrochemical sensor has a strong potential to be employed in quality control laboratories for the testing of pharmaceutical products.