Lab-made CO2 laser-engraved electrochemical sensors for ivermectin determination†

Abstract

The ivermectin (IVM), as a broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug, was widely prescribed to treat COVID-19 during the pandemic, despite lacking proven efficacy in combating this disease. Therefore, it is important to establish affordable devices in laboratories with minimal infrastructure. The laser engraving technology has been revolutionary in sensor manufacturing, primarily attributed to the diversity of substrates that can be employed and the freedom it provides in creating sensor models. In this work, electrochemical sensors based on graphene were developed using the laser engraving technology for IVM sensing. Through, the studies that used the techniques of cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry, following parameter optimization, for the laser-induced graphene electrode demonstrated a mass transport governed by adsorption of the species and exhibited a linear working range of 10–100 (μmol L⁻¹), a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.6 × 10⁻⁶ (mol L⁻¹), a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 4.8 × 10⁻⁶ (mol L⁻¹), and a sensitivity of 0.139 (μA μmol L⁻¹). The developed method was successfully applied to direct analysis of pharmaceutical tablets, tap water (recovery of 94%) and synthetic urine samples (recovery between 97% and 113%). These results demonstrate the feasibility of the method for routine analyses involving environmental samples.