Differentiable detection of ethanol/methanol in biological fluids using prompt graphene-based electrochemical nanosensor coupled with catalytic complex of nickel oxide/8-hydroxyquinoline

Abstract

Serious health hazards of volatile organic compounds such as methanol and ethanol for living species and their adverse effects on the environment raised a global requirement for developing a portable, precise, and sensitive detection platform capable of simultaneous and differentiable detection of alcohols in aquatic biological and non-biological fluids. Each year, methanol toxicity causes serious healthcare problems and leads to high mortalities in developing countries. Hence, designing and developing a practical nanosensor for diagnostic applications and environmental monitoring is crucial. Herein, we have addressed this demand by fabricating a portable, ultra-sensitive, and precise nanosensor capable of simultaneous and differentiable detection of methanol and ethanol in any aquatic specimen in about 1 min. The nanosensor is composed of the integrated graphene oxide (GO) flakes with the catalytic complex of NiOx and 8-hydroxyquinoline (8HQ) capable of identification of methanol and ethanol with an analytical sensitivity/detection limit of 30.66 μA(μmol/mL)−1.cm−2/6.87 nmol mL−1 and 118.99 μA(μmol/mL)−1.cm−2/1.80 nmol mL−1 using voltammetric assays between the linear range of 0.014–0.01 μmol mL−1 and 0.83–0.58 μmol mL−1, respectively. The outcome of the assessments exhibited the favorable capability of the prepared nanosensor for precise/prompt detection of alcohols in blood specimens and showed an ideal correlation with the outcome of the gold standard.