Electrochemical detection of paracetamol and dopamine molecules using nano-particles of cobalt ferrite and manganese ferrite modified with graphite

Abstract

Some electrodes for efficient detection of paracetamol and dopamine were developed from nano sized material of cobalt ferrite (np-CoFe2O4) and manganese ferrite (np-MnFe2O4). These oxides were synthesized by combustion method using cobalt nitrate, manganese acetate and ferric nitrate as precursors in the presence of sugar and ethanolamine. The crystallite size, shape and morphology of nano material were characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. The crystallite sizes of synthesized nano-particles (nps) were in the range from 10 to 12 nm (calculated using Debye-Scherrer equation) with cubic crystal system. These particles were utilized as electrode modified with graphite for simultaneous detection of paracetamol and dopamine through cyclic voltammetry and Differential pulse voltammetry techniques and was found to be superior to reported literatures. The minimum detection limit of paracetamol and dopamine at CoFe2O4/GP electrode were 250 nM and 350 nM while at MnFe2O4/GP electrode it was 300 nM and 400 nM, respectively. Both the electrodes exhibited the linearity range from3 μM to 200 μM & 3 μM–160 μM for paracetamol and 3 μM–180 μM & 5 μM to 200 for dopamine, respectively. Two oxidation peaks of paracetamol and dopamine were well separated in phosphate buffer (pH = 6) in mixture with 100 mVs-1 and 50 mVs-1 scan rate for cyclic voltammetry and Differential pulse voltammetry, respectively. Both the electrodes demonstrated satisfactory results in real samples of paracetamol and dopamine.