Development of Gold Modified Disposable Pencil Graphite Electrode for the Electrochemical Investigation of Acetaminophen Present in Pharmaceutical formulations and Biological samples

A novel electrochemical sensor based on the electrodeposition of gold nanoparticles on disposable pencil graphite electrode (GMPGE) has been developed and employed for the electrochemical investigation of acetaminophen. The developed GMPGE has been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The modified electrode showed excellent electrocatalytic activities with respect to acetaminophen redox behavior, with good reproducibility. The electrochemical parameters such as, surface concentration (Γ), electron transfer coefficient (α) and the standard rate constant (0k) of acetaminophen at the GMPGE were calculated. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the proposed sensor exhibited a rapid response to acetaminophen in a linear range from 1.0×10-8 M to 0.9×10-6 M with a limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) was found to be 1.95×10-9 M and 6.47×10-9 M respectively. The analytical applicability of GMPGE was illustrated for the determination of acetaminophen present in pharmaceutical formulations, human serum and urine samples as real samples with good accuracy and precision. The UV-Vis spectroscopy has been adopted to confirm the presence of acetaminophen in pharmaceutical formulations, human serum and urine samples.