Highly electroactive Co-ZnO/GO nanocomposite: Electrochemical sensing platform for oxytetracycline determination

Antimicrobial residues in animal-derived foods have become a major source of concern around the world. Oxytetracycline (OTC), one of these antibiotics that belongs to the tetracycline family should be detected in these matrices. Nanostructured metal oxides have attracted a lot of scientific attention due to their special characteristics that can be exploited for creating innovative nanodevices. Therefore, in the present study, we report the fabrication of cobalt-doped ZnO/GO nanocomposites for OTC sensors using a simple and environmentally friendly method that does not require toxic solvents. Contact angle measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-Vis were used to confirm the successful fabrication of the Co-ZnO/GO nanocomposite and to determine the surface area, Structural, morphological features, chemical composition and purity of the nanocomposite. The electrochemical and electrocatalytic properties were recorded using cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Optimizing parameters such as scan rate, pH value, deposition time, and deposition potential, we achieve a wide linear concentration range from 10^-12 M to 10^-7 M, with an impressive detection limit of 1.6 10^-13 M.Notably, our sensor exhibits remarkable selectivity, demonstrating its usefulness for the detection of oxytetracycline traces in real milk samples. These results emphasize the novelty and practical significance of our work and provide a promising avenue for the development of sensitive and selective electrochemical sensing platforms in various fields.