USB multiplex analyzer employing screen-printed silver electrodes on paper substrate; A developed design for...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Multiplex ion analyzers are emerging for inorganic ion assays.
• Screen-printed sensors are widely used in pharmaceutical analysis.
• There is a need for user-friendly sensors for multiplex analysis of organic ions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a USB pluggable sensor for multiplex analysis of oppositely charged co-formulated organic ions.
• To create a user-friendly and compact sensor design.
• To enable real-time monitoring of pharmaceutical dosage form dissolution.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a miniaturized screen-printed electrode using silver ink on paper.
• Incorporation of three electrodes: a reference electrode and two indicator electrodes.
• Optimization of PVC membranes for determining phenylephrine HCl (PHE) and ibuprofen (IBU).

Main Results:

• The developed multiplex potentiometric sensors demonstrated Nernstian slopes for PHE and IBU.
• Detection limits were achieved at 1.6 x 10^-7 mol L^-1 for PHE and 6.53 x 10^-8 mol L^-1 for IBU.
• The sensor enabled fast, stable, real-time monitoring of drug dissolution, comparable to off-line methods but with reduced waste and time.

Conclusions:

• The developed USB-pluggable sensor is effective for multiplex potentiometric analysis of organic ions.
• The sensor facilitates real-time dissolution monitoring of pharmaceutical formulations.
• The method adheres to the principles of green analytical chemistry.