Synthesis and characterization of nanocomposite material based on graphene quantum dots and lanthanum doped zirconia nanoparticles: An electrochemical sensing application towards flutamide in urine samples

Abstract

Prostate cancer is one of the essential drivers of death around the globe. As a significant medication, flutamide has been utilized in the clinical treatment of prostate cancer. However, the excessive dosage and erroneous discharge of flutamide cause the meager biodegradation and make the environment risk. Thus, it is imperative to develop an electrochemical sensor for the detection of flutamide with high affectability. In this study, we report the incorporation of a lanthanum doped zirconia nanoparticles into graphene quantum dots (GQDs@La3+@ZrO2) to form nanocomposite and is used to develop a nanosensor for flutamide detection. The proposed nanocomposite was structurally, morphologically, and electrochemically characterized by FT-IR, UV–Vis, XRD, FE-SEM, EDAX, XPS, CV, and EIS respectively. Excellent electrocatalytic behavior of the proposed sensor was noticed towards flutamide reduction in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (pH = 7). The proposed sensor showed excellent linearity within the range of 0.00175–15.75 μM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.00082 μM. Moreover, GQDs@La3+@ZrO2/GCE showed outstanding stability, sensitivity, selectivity, and good reproducibility. The developed sensor was successfully used for flutamide detection in urine samples with satisfactory results.