Electrochemical sensor-based barium zirconate on sulphur-doped graphitic carbon nitride for the simultaneous determination of nitrofurantoin (antibacterial agent) and nilutamide (anticancer drug)

Abstract

In this study, a rhombic dodecahedral barium zirconate microcrystals decorated on sulphur-doped graphitic carbon nitride (BZO/SCN) composite was prepared by a hydrothermal (HT) method followed by ultrasonication, which was used for the sensitive and selective determination of nitrofurantoin (NFT, an antibacterial agent) and nilutamide (NLT, an anticancer drug). The nanocomposite structure and morphology were characterized by XRD, FE-SEM/TEM, FT-IR, and XPS techniques. CV, EIS, and DPV methods have also been employed to investigate the electrochemical performance of the nanocomposite. Analytical parameters such as loading amount of catalyst, effect of scan rate, electron rate kinetics (Ks), diffusion coefficient (D), and pH value were analyzed. The BZO/SCN composite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) shows excellent detection of NFT and NLT in a wide dynamic linear range (WLR: 0.09–260.9 μM; 0.09–189.61 μM), a low limit of detection (LOD: 2 nM; 6 nM), and a sensitivity of (35.73 µA µM−1 cm2; 12.17 µA µM−1 cm2), respectively. Moreover, the fabricated electrode was further applied to the detection of the NFT and NLT in spiked real samples with satisfactory recoveries.