Development of a low-cost electrochemical sensor based on babassu mesocarp (Orbignya phalerata) immobilized on a flexible gold electrode for applications in sensors for 5-fluorouracil chemotherapeutics.

There are increasing concerns regarding the risks arising from the contamination of manipulators of antineoplastic drugs promoted by occupational exposure or even in the dosage of drugs. The present work proposes the use of an electrochemical sensor based on a biopolymer extracted from the babassu coconut (Orbignya phalerata) for the determination of an antineoplastic 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) drug as an alternative for the monitoring of these drugs. In order to reduce the cost of this sensor, a flexible gold electrode (FEAu) is proposed. The surface modification of FEAu was performed with the deposition of a casting film of the biopolymer extracted from the babassu mesocarp (BM) and modified with phthalic anhydride (BMPA). The electrochemical activity of the modified electrode was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), and its morphology was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The FEAu/BMPA showed a high sensitivity (8.8 µA/µmol/L) and low limit of detection (0.34 µmol/L) for the 5-FU drug in an acid medium. Electrochemical sensors developed from the babassu mesocarp may be a viable alternative for the monitoring of the 5-FU antineoplastic in pharmaceutical formulations, because in addition to being sensitive to this drug, they are constructed of a natural polymer, renewable, and abundant in nature. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Potentiometric detection of citrate in beverages using a graphite carbon electrode.

The development, evaluation and application of a simple and low-cost graphite carbon electrode for the direct determination of citrate in food samples are described here. The electrode exhibits a linear response with a slope of -29.0 ± 1.0 mV decade(-1) in a concentration range of 0.07-7.0 mmol L(-1) in 0.1 mol L(-1) KCl/1.0 mmol L(-1) phosphate buffer solution with a limit of detection of 3.0 µmol L(-1). The electrode is easily constructed at a relatively low cost and has a fast time response (within 120 s) with no significant changes in its performance characteristics. The performance of the graphite sensor was tested to determine citrate in beverage samples (juices and an isotonic drink), and the results were validated against a reference procedure. The proposed method is quick, inexpensive, selective and sensitive, and is based entirely on conventional instrumentation.

Rutin determination in pharmaceutical formulations using a carbon paste electrode modified with poly(vinylpyrrolidone).

A carbon paste electrode modified with poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) was developed for the determination of rutin. PVP enhances the adsorption of rutin on the electrode surface due to the presence of hydrogen bonding between the imide group in PVP and the hydroxyl group in rutin. The current responses in cyclic and linear sweep voltammetric experiments were investigated and an oxidation peak was observed at +0.87 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Several parameters were investigated to evaluate the performance of the modified electrode. The best analytical response was obtained employing (75:15:10%, w/w/w) graphite powder:Nujol:PVP, with an accumulation time of 10 min, scan rate of 100 mV s(-1) and 0.1M phosphate buffer solution (pH 6.0) as supporting electrolyte. The analytical curve was linear for rutin concentrations of 3.9 x 10(-7) to 1.3 x 10(-5)M (r=0.9991) and the detection limit was 1.5 x 10(-7)M. The recovery of rutin from pharmaceutical samples ranged from 98.3 to 101.7% and the relative standard deviation was 3.3% for a solution containing 7.7 x 10(-6)M rutin (n=5). This electrode was successfully applied to the determination of rutin in pharmaceutical formulations. The results obtained using the proposed modified carbon paste electrode and those obtained by the standard method are in agreement at the 95% confidence level.

Amperometric determination of dipyrone in pharmaceutical formulations with a flow cell containing gold electrodes from recordable compact discs.

A simple, rapid, and precise amperometric method for quantification of dipyrone in pharmaceutical formulations is presented. The proposed method permits determinations in the 10(-7) mol L(-1) of the analyte and enables 90 determinations h(-1), employing only 100 microL of sample per determination. This method is based on the direct quantification of dipyrone in many pharmaceutical products, avoiding cumbersome processes such as previous separations, solvent extraction, or sample filtration. This new procedure was applied to commercial pharmaceutical tablets, and the results obtained were in excellent agreement with the ones obtained by the classical iodometric method.