Electrochemical quantification of 17α – Ethinylestradiol in biological samples using a Au/Fe3O4@TA/MWNT/GCE sensor

Abstract

Due to the weak electrochemical behavior of 17α – ethinylestradiol, it is impossible to determine small amounts of 17α – ethinylestradiol (EE2) at the surface of conventional electrodes. Therefore, the designing and fabrication of electrochemical sensors with high performance are important. In this context, we developed a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for EE2 detection based on multiwall carbon nanotubes and magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with tannic acid and Au nanoparticles (Au/Fe3O4@TA/MWNT). The hybrid nanocomposite deposited onto the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) showed excellent electrochemical properties so that the oxidation current of EE2 is dramatically increased by 28 times compared to GCE. The proposed novel sensor showed a good LOD and linear range (3.3 nM and 0.01–120 μM, respectively) for the quantification of EE2. In addition, the proposed sensor showed good selectivity for EE2 detection in the presence of several common interfering compounds. The high sensitivity and selectivity of the development sensor are related to the synergistic effect of the Fe3O4, Au nanoparticles (AuNPs), and MWNT used in the nanocomposite structure. The obtained results of real sample analysis by EE2 sensor suggest the sensor can be used as a potential tool for the determination of EE2 in different real samples.