Preparation of C@C3N4/IL/AuNPS as a sensitive electrochemical sensor for the determination of doxorubicin

Abstract

Carbon-doped graphitic carbon nitride (C@C3N4) was synthesized through a carbon self-repairing process from which a nanocomposite of C@C3N4, ionic liquid, and gold nanoparticles (C@C3N4/IL/AuNPs) was prepared and used as a sensor for Doxorubicin (DOX) detection. The charge transfer resistance of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was decreased from 1.9 to 0.1 kΩ after modification with C@C3N4/IL/AuNPs nanocomposite, while the GCE surface area was enlarged nearly two times by the presence of C@C3N4/IL/AuNPs. The reversible redox peaks were observed for DOX at GCE/C@C3N4/IL/AuNPs with high peak currents nearly 45 times that of the nascent GCE. Scan rate and pH effects revealed a pH-dependent adsorption-controlled process for DOX oxidation. A linear relationship between the oxidation peak current and DOX concentration in the 10–5000 nM range led to a low detection limit of 3 nM. The sensor was selective to measure DOX in real samples within the recovery percentage of 98.16–104.