Effect of narcotic drugs on neurotransmitter: Electrochemical determination of heroin and dopamine by graphene oxide/carboxymethylcellulose/magnesium oxide nanohybrid membrane

Abstract

In developing countries, the use of narcotics is increasing drastically, and the number of drug abusers is elevating at a larger scale. Thus, a need arises to develop sensors that will lead to the detection of drugs even at lower concentrations. In this research study, we have fabricated a nanohybrid membrane of graphene oxide/carboxymethylcellulose/magnesium oxide (GO@CMC.MgO) nanoparticles to detect heroin. Interestingly, we have fabricated this graphene-based sensor to analyze the link between dopamine and heroin further. Administration of heroin lead to elevated levels of dopamine in the body. The ultimate goal of this research study is to determine the potential of synthesized sensors for the simultaneous detection of heroin and dopamine. Mechanical strength increases after immobilizing the carboxymethyl cellulose nanomaterial on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The nanocomposite membrane is fabricated via precipitation and ultrasonication and characterized by FT-IR, UV–Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, zeta potential, TGA, and SEM. The composite film is utilized to detect dopamine and heroin at various concentrations and pH simultaneously ranges in synthetic phosphate buffer samples. The GO@CMC.MgO-based sensor detects dopamine (DA) and heroin through differential pulse voltammetry, and a modified electrode is analyzed via cyclic voltammetry. LOD is observed as 1 × 10−7 µM for heroin and 2 × 10−7 µM for DA, while LOQ obtained is 0.2 μM and 0.4 μM for heroin and DA, respectively.The newly proposed electrochemical sensor simultaneously detects dopamine and heroin with high sensitivity and selectivity in serum samples of heroin-administered rabbits.