Simultaneous voltammetric determination of paracetamol, cetirizine and phenylephrine using a multiwalled carbon nanotube-platinum nanoparticles nanocomposite modified carbon paste electrode

Abstract

The paper describes fabrication and application of electrochemical sensor for simultaneous determination of paracetamol (PCT), cetirizine (CTZ) and phenylephrine (PHE) based on carbon paste electrode modified with multiwalled carbon nanotube-platinum nanoparticles (MWCNT-PtNPs) nanocomposite. The MWCNT-PtNPs composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The main advantage of multiwalled carbon nanotube-platinum nanoparticles modified carbon paste electrode (MWCNT-PtNPs-CPE) is that sensitivity of stripping response is increased and separation of PCT, CTZ and PHE signals is improved. The electrochemical oxidation of PCT, CTZ and PHE has been investigated by application of said electrode using cyclic voltammetry (CV), adsorptive stripping differential pulse voltammetry (AdSDPV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Under optimized experimental conditions PCT, CTZ and PHE gave linear response over the linear ranges 3.51×10−7–5.61×10−5M, 1.9×10−7–1.93×10−4M and 2.9×10−7–5.69×10−5M for PCT, CTZ and PHE, respectively. The detection limits were found to be 2.79×10−8M, 5.86×10−8M and 2.83×10−8M for PCT, CTZ and PHE respectively. The method described is highly sensitive and has been applied for the simultaneous determination of PCT, CTZ and PHE in commercially available pharmaceutical formulations, blood serum and urine samples. A good recovery level obtained for real samples suggests practical utility of the MWCNT-PtNPs-CPE as an effective and reliable electrochemical sensor for simultaneous determination of PCT, CTZ and PHE.