Electrochemical quantification of fluoxetine in pharmaceutical formulation using carbon nanoparticles

A sensitive electrochemical sensor is formed by a carbon nanoparticles (CNPs)/glassy carbon electrode for the determination of antidepressant drug fluoxetine in pharmaceutical formulation. The dependence of fluoxetine electro-oxidation currents and potentials on pH concentration and the potential scan rate was studied. Scanning electron microscopy was used for characterisation of the CNPs. The porous layer of the CNPs improved the electroactive surface area and led to a significant increasing in the peak currents, based on the diffusion within a nanoporous film. The best electrochemical response was obtained from differential pulse voltammograms in the buffer solution (pH 9.0). Linear calibration graphs were obtained in 1–25 μM with %RSD values from 0.3 to 5.7 and the detection limit of 0.4 μM (S/N = 3). The CNPs modified electrode was successfully applied for fluoxetine determination in capsules and the results showed sufficient precision and achieved a mean recovery accuracy of 99.06%.