Epirubicin-sensitive detection with a CoWO₄/reduced graphene oxide modified screen-printed electrode

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Epirubicin (EP) is a vital chemotherapeutic agent with antimetabolic and cytotoxic properties, used in treating various cancers.
• Accurate and sensitive detection of EP is crucial for therapeutic drug monitoring and quality control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel electrochemical sensor for the sensitive determination of epirubicin (EP).
• To synthesize and characterize a CoWO₄/reduced graphene oxide (CoWO₄/rGO) nanocomposite for sensor fabrication.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis and characterization of CoWO₄/rGO nanocomposite using field emission-scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.
• Modification of a screen-printed electrode (SPE) surface with the synthesized CoWO₄/rGO nanocomposite.
• Electrochemical analysis of EP using voltammetric techniques, specifically differential pulse voltammetry.

Main Results:

• The CoWO₄/rGO/SPE demonstrated enhanced electron transfer kinetics and reduced overpotential for EP redox reactions compared to a bare SPE.
• The sensor achieved a wide linearity range for EP detection from 0.01 to 190.0 μM.
• High sensitivity (0.1529 μA μM^-1) and a low limit of detection (0.007 μM) were obtained for EP.

Conclusions:

• The fabricated CoWO₄/rGO/SPE serves as an effective electrochemical sensor for epirubicin determination.
• The sensor exhibited excellent performance and practical applicability, with good recovery rates in pharmaceutical sample analysis.