Novel Copolymer-based Electrochemical Sensor for the Facile Determination of Biomarkers of Diabetes and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Apart from the significant physiological roles of hormones and purine metabolites in higher level living organisms, these biomolecules act as recognised biomarkers for early disease detection and its periodical monitoring. This article details the development of a voltammetric sensor based on a copolymer of [L-Cystein (LCys) and 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES)] modified glassy carbon electrode for the selective and sensitive determination of Epinephrine (EP), Uric acid (UA), Xanthine (XA) and Hypoxanthine (HX) individually as well as simultaneously. Different perspectives of electrocopolymer formation and involved reaction mechanisms have been investigated and substantiated via Cyclic voltammetry, ATR and Raman spectroscopy. This copolymer modification enables the formation of well-defined peaks for the analytes and under optimised conditions, the designed sensor possess wide linear range with limit of detection of 9.22 × 10−7 M, 5.147 × 10−7 M, 1.260 × 10−7 M and 2.406 × 10−7 M for EP, UA, XA and HX respectively. Scan rate studies were well employed to derive the mechanistic aspects behind the electrooxidation reactions. The credibility in measurements were validated via repeatability, reproducibility and stability studies. Also, the feasibility of the proposed sensor was examined in real samples and the obtained results were validated via traditional analytical techniques which demonstrates its practical utility in real time monitoring.