Abstract
The even growing production of both well-known and new derivatives with pharmaceutical action involves the need for developing facile and reliable methods for the analysis of these compounds. Among the widely used instrumental techniques, the electrochemical ones are probably the simplest and the most rapid, also having good performance characteristics. However, the key tool in electroanalysis is the working electrode. Due to the inherent electrochemical and economic advantages of the pencil graphite electrode (PGE), the interest in its applicability in the analysis of different analytes has continuously increased in recent years. Thus, this paper aims to review the scientific reports published in the last 10 years on the use of the disposable eco- and user-friendly PGEs in the electroanalysis of compounds of pharmaceutical importance in different matrices. The PGE characteristics and designs (bare or modified with various types of materials), along with their applications and performance parameters (e.g., linear range, limit of detection, and reproducibility), will be discussed, and their advantages and limitations will be critically emphasized.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Mihaela PuiuIn the current context of increasing drug use and abuse, pharmaceutical analysis is an important issue related to active ingredient identification and evaluation in raw materials, pharmaceutical formulations, and biological samples
The examples presented in this review regarding pencil graphite electrode (PGE) use in the voltametric analysis of pharmaceuticals emphasize the versatility of pencil graphite leads as working electrodes, because they are disposable and cheap (e.g., USD 0.01 per electrode [40] or EUR~0.06 vs. the disposable screen-printed graphite electrodes (EUR~2.7) [18]), they have high availability, being commercialized in common bookstores, and very importantly, they present low background currents and can be modified easier in comparison with other usually employed electrodes like GCEs or diamond electrodes [64]
Unmodified PGEs are user- and eco-friendly, while modified PGEs present better performance characteristics like selectivity and sensitivity, but they require more reagents and time for the whole analysis due to the various synthesis steps and supplementary investigations for surface characterization. All these and other important advantages offered by the PGE, either bare or as support for modified sensors, resulted in ever increasing interest in its use in the electrochemical analysis of various organic or inorganic species from very different matrices
Summary
In the current context of increasing drug use and abuse, pharmaceutical analysis is an important issue related to active ingredient identification and evaluation in raw materials, pharmaceutical formulations, and biological samples. One important drawback of the conventional solid electrodes is their surface fouling, a fact that seriously affects the possibility of obtaining a new surface with the same properties and, the electrode response reproducibility To overcome this problem, the surface of the electrode must be mechanically or electrochemically cleaned [13], apearing to be a time-consuming step in the global analysis procedure. It is worth emphasizing that a PGE is a disposable electrode, with the surface renewal being faster by replacing the pencil lead in comparison with polishing procedures applied to the classical solid electrodes [21] Another lead is used for every measurement, the reproducibility is assured by the composition uniformity, with the graphite leads being subjected to strict quality control during the fabrication process.
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