From mercury to nanosensors: Past, present and the future perspective of electrochemistry in pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis

A Journey from the Drops of Mercury to the Mysterious Shores of the Brain: The 100-Year Adventure of Voltammetry

Voltammetry, which is at the core of electroanalytical chemistry, is an analytical method that investigates and evaluates the current-potential relationship obtained at a given working electrode. If it is used dropping mercury as working electrode, the method is called as polarography. The current year 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of polarography by Czech Jaroslav Heyrovský. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1959 for this discovery and his contribution to the scientific world. A hundred years, within the endless existence of the universe is maybe nothing. A hundred years, in the history of mankind is a line, maybe a short paragraph. But, in science, a hundred years can lead to very significant advances in a field and often to the birth and establishment of an entirely new scientific discipline. Indeed, in the last hundred years, the design and use of new electrochemical devices, depending on the progress in microelectronics and computer technologies, has almost revolutionized voltammetry. Besides these developments, due to the fact that the redox (oxidation/reduction) process is very basic for living organisms; the voltammetry, especially with the beginning of the 21st century, has started to be used as a very powerful tool in neuroscience to solve the mystery of the brain (the basic problems of biomolecules with physiological and genetic importance in brain tissue). This review article is an overview of the 100-year history and fascinating development of voltammetry from Heyrovský to the present.

Merging 3D-printing technology and disposable materials for electrochemical purposes: A sustainable alternative to ensure greener electroanalysis

3D-printing technology has revolutionized electrochemical applications by enabling rapid prototyping of various devices with high precision, even in highly complex structures. However, a significant challenge remains in developing less costly and more sustainable analytical approaches and methods aimed at mitigating the negative environmental impacts of chemical analysis procedures. In this study, we propose a solution to these challenges by creating a simple and versatile electrochemical system that combines 3D-printing technology with recyclable disposable materials, such as graphite from an exhausted battery and a stainless-steel screw. Our results demonstrate a novel strategy for developing electrodes and other laboratory-made devices that align with the principles of sustainability and green chemistry. Furthermore, we provide evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed system in an analytical application involving the simultaneous determination of tert-butylhydroquinone, acetaminophen, and levofloxacin using the voltammetric technique in lake and groundwater samples. The results indicate sufficient accuracy, with recovery values ranging from 91 to 110%. Additionally, we utilized the Analytical GREEnness calculator as a metric system to evaluate the environmental friendliness of the proposed electroanalytical protocol. The final score confirms a favorable level of sustainability, reaffirming the eco-friendly nature of our approach.

Fast and Ultrasensitive Electrochemical Detection for Antiviral Drug Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate in Biological Matrices

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is an antiretroviral medication with significant curative effects, so its quantitative detection is important for human health. At present, there are few studies on the detection of TDF by electrochemical sensors. This work can be a supplement to the electrochemical detection of TDF. Moreover, bare electrodes are susceptible to pollution, and have high overvoltage and low sensitivity, so it is crucial to find a suitable electrode material. In this work, zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) that has a certain selectivity to phosphoric acid groups was synthesized by a hydrothermal method with zirconyl chloride octahydrate as the precursor. A composite modified glassy carbon electrode for zirconium oxide-chitosan-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (ZrO₂-CS-MWCNTs/GCE) was used for the first time to detect the TDF, and achieved rapid, sensitive detection of TDF with a detection limit of sub-micron content. The ZrO₂-CS-MWCNTs composite was created using sonication of a mixture of ZrO₂ and CS-MWCNTs solution. The composite was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Electrochemical analysis was performed using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Compared with single-material electrodes, the ZrO₂-CS-MWCNTs/GCE significantly improves the electrochemical sensing of TDF due to the synergistic effect of the composite. Under optimal conditions, the proposed method has achieved good results in linear range (0.3~30 μM; 30~100 μM) and detection limit (0.0625 μM). Moreover, the sensor has the merits of simple preparation, good reproducibility and good repeatability. The ZrO₂-CS-MWCNTs/GCE has been applied to the determination of TDF in serum and urine, and it may be helpful for potential applications of other substances with similar structures.

An Efficient, Simultaneous Electrochemical Assay of Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe from Human Urine and Serum Samples

The drug combination of rosuvastatin (ROS) and ezetimibe (EZE) is used to treat hypercholesterolemia. In this work, a simultaneous electrochemical examination of ROS and EZE was conducted for the first time. The electrochemical determination of ROS and EZE was carried out using adsorptive stripping differential pulse voltammetry (AdSDPV) on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in 0.1 M H₂SO₄. The effects of the pH, scan rate, deposition potential, and time on the detection of ROS and EZE were analyzed. Under optimum conditions, the developed sensor exhibited a linear response between 1.0 × 10^-6 M and 2.5 × 10^-5 M for EZE and 5.0 × 10^-6 M, and 1.25 × 10^-5 M for ROS. The detection limits for ROS and EZE were 3.0 × 10^-7 M and 2.0 × 10^-6 M, respectively. The developed sensor was validated in terms of linear range, accuracy, precision, the limit of determination (LOD), and the limit of quantification (LOQ), and it was evaluated according to ICH Guidelines and USP criteria. The proposed method was also used to determine ROS and EZE in human urine and serum samples, which are reported in terms of recovery studies.

Zirconium Molybdate Nanocomposites’ Sensing Platform for the Sensitive and Selective Electrochemical Detection of Adefovir

Adefovir (ADV) is an anti-retroviral drug, which can be used to treat acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and chronic hepatitis B (CHB), so its quantitative analysis is of great significance. In this work, zirconium molybdate (ZrMo₂O₈) was synthesized by a wet chemical method, and a composite with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was made. ZrMo₂O₈-MWCNTs composite was dropped onto the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to prepare ZrMo₂O₈-MWCNTs/GCE, and ZrMo₂O₈-MWCNTs/GCE was used in the electrochemical detection of ADV for the first time. The preparation method is fast and simple. The materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). It was electrochemically analysed by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Compared with single-material modified electrodes, ZrMo₂O₈-MWCNTs/GCE showed a vastly improved electrochemical response to ADV. Moreover, the sensor complements the study of the electrochemical detection of ADV. Under optimal conditions, the proposed electrochemical method showed a wide linear range (from 1 to 100 μM) and a low detection limit (0.253 μM). It was successfully tested in serum and urine. In addition, the sensor has the advantages of a simple preparation, fast response, good reproducibility and repeatability. It may be helpful in the potential applications of other substances with similar structures.

Achievements of Mesoporous Carbon Solution and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composite on the Sensitive Electrochemical Assay of Ivabradine

In this study, the electrochemical determination of Ivabradine hydrochloride (IH) was studied in detail using a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with mesoporous carbon solution (MCS) and carboxylated group linked single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT-COOH). The developed nanosensor showed a significant effect by remarkably increasing the IH signal compared with the bare GCE. Cyclic (CV) and differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) methods were applied to perform electrochemical analysis of IH in pH 3.0 BRB solutions. The calibration plot for IH with a detection limit of 1.47 × 10−7 M was obtained using the DPV technique in the range of 1–10 µM under optimum experimental conditions. The proposed method has been validated and applied for the detection of the IH tablet. The produced nanosensor was also performed for the determination of IH in serum and urine. Excellent recoveries of 98.4%, 98.0%, and 100.2% were achieved for tablet, serum, and urine analysis, respectively.

Regioselective Mercury(I)/Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Single-Step Approach for the Synthesis of Imines and 2-Substituted Indoles

An efficient synthesis of ketimines was achieved through a regioselective Hg(I)-catalyzed hydroamination of terminal acetylenes in the presence of anilines. The Pd(II)-catalyzed cyclization of these imines into the 2-substituted indoles was satisfactorily carried out by a C-H activation. In a single-step approach, a variety of 2-substituted indoles were also generated via a Hg(I)/Pd(II)-catalyzed, one-pot, two-step process, starting from anilines and terminal acetylenes. The arylacetylenes proved to be more effective than the alkyl derivatives.

Nano-sized Metal and Metal Oxide Modified Electrodes for Pharmaceuticals Analysis

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The electrochemical analysis offers a number of important advantages such as providing information on pharmaceuticals analysis and their in vivo redox processes and pharmacological activity. The interest in developing electrochemical sensing devices for use in clinical assays is growing rapidly. Metallic nanoparticles can be synthesized and modified with various chemical functional groups, which allow them to be conjugated with antibodies, ligands, and drugs of interest.

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In this article, the novel developments to enhance the performance of sensor modified with metal nanoparticles of pharmaceuticals were reviewed. A discussion of the properties of metal nanostructures and their application in drug analysis is presented. Their application as a modifier agent in determining low levels of drugs in pharmaceutical dosage forms and biological samples is discussed. It has been found that the electrocatalytic effect of the electrode, sensitivity and selectivity were increased using various working electrodes modified with nano-sized metal, metal oxide and metal/metal oxide particles.

Enhancement of graphene oxide through β-cyclodextrin composite to sensitive analysis of an antidepressant: Sulpiride

In this study, the electrochemical behavior of sulpiride (SUL) was examined deeply by using pyrolytic graphite electrode modified with graphene oxide (GO) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). The developed nanosensor indicated considerable impact by significantly increasing the signal of SUL compared with the bare electrode. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), and square wave voltammetry (SWV) methods were utilized to investigate the SUL electrochemical analysis in aqueous solutions. Under optimum experimental conditions, calibration plot for SUL with a limit of detection of 2.83 × 10−9 M was obtained at accumulation time of the 30 s using square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetric technique (AdSSWV) in the range of 1.0 × 10−7 to 5.0 × 10−5 M. The effects of accumulation potential, accumulation time, pH, scan rate, electrolyte, and interfering agents were studied to obtain the intensive peak signal of the analyte. The presented method is validated and successfully performed for the determination of the SUL tablet and capsule. The fabricated nanosensor was carried out for the detection of SUL in the urine. Excellent recoveries among 104.37, 103.82, and 101.95% were obtained for tablet and capsule forms and urine analysis.

A reusable AuNPS with increased stability applied for fast screening of trace heavy metals in edible and medicinal marine products

Heavy metal pollution in marine environment poses a severe threat to the safety of marine products and is thus causing increasingly concerns in terms of their toxicity and potential health risks pose to human. Due to the complex matrix of marine products, a fast screening method for heavy metals at trace level with low price, reusability, high accuracy and long lifetime is of urgency and necessity for consumers and processing factories. This work described a simplified screening system through the preparation, characterization and particular application of Au nano particle sensor (AuNPS) in the complex marine matrix, the main aim is to significantly increase the stability, sensitivity and lifetime of detection system dedicated to Cu and Hg trace analysis in marine products. It is worth mentioning that, the proposed screening system was characterized through electrochemical experiments and theoretical calculations, which could be a new evidence for selecting the detection system in commercially complex samples. Importantly, the discipline of deposition and oxidative stripping process on AuNPS was explained based on the mechanism of Metal Ion Deficient Layer (MIDL), and illustrated with SEM changes during stripping process, as well as the dissolving-out rate of metals on AuNPS material. Moreover, to further improve the reusability and stability of AuNPS sensor, the complex marine matrix was purified by pre-plating interferences on indium tin oxide glass electrode. The screening system exhibited a liner response in the range of 0.02-0.10 μg mL^-1 for Hg, 0.01-0.10 μg mL^-1 and 0.001-0.01 μg mL^-1 for Cu with the detection limits of 0.138 mg kg^-1 and 1.51 mg kg^-1 in marine matrix, respectively. The sensitivity and lifetime was at least two times better as compared to similar works even after 20-times use. Finally, this proposed analysis system combined with purification procedure was successfully applied for the edible and medicinal marine products analysis, meanwhile, the accuracy and stability were confirmed with standard analytical methods.

Phthalocyanine Modified Electrodes in Electrochemical Analysis

Phthalocyanines are aromatic or macrocyclic organic compounds and attract great attention due to their numerous properties. They have many high-tech applications in different areas of the industry such as dyestuffs, thermal printing screens, photovoltaic solar cells, membrane catalytic reactors, semiconductor materials and gas sensors. In the last decade, electrochemical sensor studies have accelerated with the catalytic lighting. It plays a dominant role in the development and implementation of new generation sensors. The aim of this study is to review the electrochemical methods based on electrode modification with phthalocyanines and to shed light on new application areas of phthalocyanines. The focal point was based on the sensor applications of phthalocyanines in the determination of drugs, pesticides, organic materials and metals etc. by electrochemical methods. Experimental conditions and some validation parameters of the sensor applications such as metal phthalocyanine types, indicator electrodes, selectivity, working ranges, detection limits, and analytical applications were discussed. Consequently, this is the first review dealing with the applications of phthalocyanines in electrochemical sensors for the sensitive determination of analytes in a variety of matrices.

Carbon-based ruthenium nanomaterial-based electroanalytical sensors for the detection of anticancer drug Idarubicin

In this work, a novel nanosensing platform was suggested based on ruthenium for the sensitive determination of Idarubicin anticancer drugs. Ruthenium/Vulcan carbon-based nanoparticles were synthesized ultrasonication method and then characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The mean particle size of the nanoparticles calculated by the TEM analysis was found to be 1.98 nm ± 0.29 nm, and the Ru nanoparticles were mostly dispersed on the support material. Glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface was modified with Ruthenium/Vulcan carbon-based nanomaterials (Ru@VC), and characterization of the nanosensor was performed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values were found as 9.25 × 10^–9 M and 2.8 × 10^–8 M in buffer samples. To demonstrate the applicability and validity of developed nanosensor, it was used for the determination of Idarubicin in Idamen^® IV (10 mg/10 mL vial) and human serum sample. The results of recovery studies showed that the Ru@VC/GCE nanosensor was free from excipient interferences in the dosage forms of injection, and it can be successfully applied to biological samples.

A water-stable terbium-MOF sensor for the selective, sensitive, and recyclable detection of Al3+ and CO32− ions

A layered Tb-MOF structure exhibits high sensitivity, selectivity, and concurrently low limits of detection in relation to Al³⁺ and CO₃²⁻ ions.

A New Approach for the Determination of Benzocaine and Procaine in Pharmaceuticals by Single-Sweep Polarography

A new polarographic method for the determination of benzocaine and procaine based on the polarographic reduction of their chemically obtained oxidation products with potassium peroxymonosulfate is developed. Experimental conditions affecting quantitative yield of benzocaine and procaine oxidation products such as рH, oxidation time, reagents’ concentration, and temperature are explored. It is shown that the reduction current changes in a linear fashion (R=0.999) with increasing concentration of anesthetics over a concentration range of 1·10−6 - 5·10−5 mol L−1. The calculated limits of detection (LOD) for benzocaine and procaine are found to be 5.6·10−6 and 6·10−6 mol L−1, respectively. In the present study, quantitative polarographic determination of benzocaine in Farisil tablets and “Septolete Plus” lozenges and procaine in solution for injections is performed. The results of the analysis are in good agreement with the product specifications described in the quality certificates. The possibility of quantitative determination of benzocaine and procaine in pharmaceuticals is confirmed.

Recent progress on the sensitive detection of cardiovascular disease markers by electrochemical-based biosensors

Cardiovascular disease is the most reason for deaths in all over the world. Hence, biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases are very crucial for diagnosis and management process. Biomarker detection demand is opened the important way in biosensor development field. Rapid, cheap, portable, precise, selective and sensitive biomarker sensing devices are needed at this point to detect and predict disease. A cardiac biomarker can be orderable as C-reactive protein, troponin I or T, myoglobin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, interleukin-1, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase, low-density lipoprotein and myeloperoxidase. They are used for prediction of cardiovascular diseases. There are many methods for early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, but these have long time process and expensive devices. In recent studies, different biosensors have been developed to remove the problems in this field. Electrochemical devices and developed biosensors have many superiorities than others such as low cost, mobile, reliable, repeatable, need a little amount of solution. In this review, recent studies were presented as details for cardiovascular disease biomarkers detection using electrochemical methods.

Electrochemical carbon based nanosensors: A promising tool in pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis

Nanotechnology has become very popular in the sensor fields in recent times. It is thought that the utilization of such technologies, as well as the use of nanosized materials, could well have beneficial effects for the performance of sensors. Nano-sized materials have been shown to have a number of novel and interesting physical and chemical properties. Low-dimensional nanometer-sized materials and systems have defined a new research area in condensed-matter physics within past decades. Apart from the aforesaid categories of materials, there exist various materials of different types for fabricating nanosensors. Carbon is called as a unique element, due to its magnificent applications in many areas. Carbon is an astonishing element that can be found many forms including graphite, diamond, fullerenes, and graphene. This review provides an overview of some of the important and recent developments brought about by the application of carbon based nanostructures to nanotechnology for both chemical and biological sensor development and their application in pharmaceutical and biomedical area.