Further development on DMFC device used for analytical purpose: real applications in the pharmaceutical field and...

The analytical research devoted to the utilization of the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) for analytical purposes has been continued. The research reported in this paper concerns two points, one of which was the possibility of improving the features, from the analytical point of view, of a catalytic fuel cell for methanol and ethanol, by introducing an enzyme, immobilized into a dialysis membrane small bag, in the anodic area of the fuel cell. This objective has been fully achieved, particularly using the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which has increased the sensitivity of the method and reduced dramatically the response time of the cell. The second point concerned the opportunity to determine two particular antibiotics having an alcohol functional group in their molecule, that is, imipenem and chloramphenicol. Also, this goal has been reached, even if the sensitivity of the method is not so high. Graphical abstract Imipenem and Chloramphenicol determination using the DMFC and Ethanol determination using the enzymatic DMFC.