Chemical nose for discrimination of some ergogenic drugs based on sensor array comprised of different metallic nanoparticles

Colorimetric sensors based on aggregation of metallic nanoparticles have found extensive applications in detection and determination of various analytes especially drugs of abuse. This is because of thier unique charasteristics which facilitates their usage for naked eye colorimetric detection. Colorimetric sensor arrays comprised of metallic nanoparticles are suitable analytical tools for detection and classification of different compounds which are based on different interaction of analytes with various metallic nanoparticles for obtaining a specific fingerprint for each analyte of interest in mixture. Combining these sensor array with chemometric techniques like PCA, HCA, LDA... is a good and reliable method for classification and chracterization of analytical samples. Ergogenic drugs including salbutamol, atenolol, furosemide, pseudoephedrine ... are most utilized drugs by athletes which besides destructive effects on human health are prohibited by many regulatories so their detection and determination are of importance [1- 4]. In this study a colorimetric sensor array comprised of the combination of four different nanoparticles including Au, Ag, Au@Ag and Ag@Au core-shells is used for classification of some most used ergogenic drugs. The interactions of nanoparticles and drug substances are monitored spectrophotometrically and the effects of drugs on the aggregation behaviour of four nanoparticles are studied based on the extent of the changes in their visible spectra. The obtained data are analyzed using chemometrical classification techniques and the results are used for classification of drugs in blood serum samples. Results showed high efficiency of proposed sensor toward analysis of biological compounds and drugs. Additionally it is possible to modify the constituents of the sensor by different modifiers to achieve high selectivity toward classification of desired analytes.