Heroin detection in a droplet hosted in a 3D printed support at the miniaturized electrified liquid-liquid interface

Abstract

Simple sensing protocols for the detection of illicit drugs are needed. Electrochemical sensing is especially attractive in this respect, as its cost together with the analytical accuracy aspires to replace still frequently used colorimetric tests. In this work, we have shown that the interfacial transfer of protonated heroin can be followed at the electrified water-1,2-dichloroethane interface. We have comprehensively studied the interfacial behavior of heroin alone and in the presence of its major and abundant cutting agents, caffeine and paracetamol. To maximally increase developed sensing protocol applicability we have designed and 3D printed a platform requiring only a few microliters of the aqueous and the organic phase. The proposed sensing platform was equipped with a cavity hosting a short section of Ag/AgCl electrode, up to 20 µL of the aqueous phase and the end of the micropipette tip being used as a casing of a fused silica capillary having 25 µm as the internal pore diameter. The volume of the organic phase was equal to around 5 µL and was present inside the micropipette tip. We have shown that under optimized conditions heroin can be detected in the presence of caffeine and paracetamol existing in a sample with 10,000 times excess over the analyte of interest. The calculated limit of detection equal to 1.3 µM, linear dynamic range spanning to at least 50 µM, good reproducibility, and very low volume of needed sample is fully in line with forensic demands.