Unveiling the capability of novel cobalt/barium stannate nanoparticles embedded functionalized MWCNTs nanocomposite for electrochemical investigation of antibiotic drug nifuroxazide

Abstract

Nifuroxazide (NFR) is a class of synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotics and recently was proven to have anticancer properties, which are widely used to treat infectious diarrhea and targeted anticancer therapeutic. However, clinical studies have shown that long-term consumption of nitrofurans can lead to numerous side effects on human health. To address these issues, very important to fabricate a hybrid sensor for highly accurate and ultra-low sensing of NFR in biological fluids. Herein, we designed a novel cobalt/barium stannate@functionalized MWCNT (CBS@f-MWCNT) using a simple ultrasonication route. The synthesized CBS@f-MWCNTs nanocomposite were meticulously inspected for their physicochemical and structural characteristics for comprehensive understanding. The CBS@f-MWCNT demonstrates excellent electrolytic response for NFR reduction due to synergistic effects, enhanced electrochemical active site, and fast electron transfer. The significant electrocatalytic mechanism of NFR exhibited that an equal number of protons (4H+) and electrons (4e–) participated in the process. Under the optimized conditions, the experimental results exposed that wide linear range (0.05–343.6 μM), an excellent limit of detection (LOD) of 0.015 μM, and a sensitivity of 1.07 μA μM−1 cm−2. Further, the electrochemical sensor reveals excellent selectivity, repeatability (RSD = 0.73 %), reproducibility (RSD = 3.1 %), and stability (92 %). Moreover, the practicability of the proposed sensor was verified for the detection of NFR in biological samples with a satisfactory relative recovery (>99.5 %). Therefore, this study not only provides a straightforward method to construct nanocomposites but also boosts the electrochemical performance for the determination of antibacterial drugs.