Green Synthesis, Microstructural Characterization, and Synergizing Effect of Na-β-Type Hexagonal Ferrite Nanomaterials as a Probe for Cefixime Electrochemical Sensors.

Abstract

The quantitative study of antibiotics is important in various biomedical applications. Cefixime is a third-generation cephalosporin medication used to treat a range of bacterial infections. In this study, the green synthesis of sodium β-type hexagonal ferrite nanomaterial (NaFe₁₁O₁₇-NMs) was carried out from ginger root extract via the sol-gel method. The as-synthesized NMs were characterized via atomic force microscopy (AFM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis, and UV-visible spectroscopy. Furthermore, the drop-casting process is used to synthesize an efficient electrochemical sensor by coating a gold electrode (AuE) with NaFe₁₁O₁₇ NMs (NaFe₁₁O₁₇-NMs/AuE), which helps in the sensitive and selective quantification of cefixime. The as-prepared electrochemical process had a remarkably low detection limit of 14 nM. The as-fabricated sensor was effectively used to quantify cefixime levels in clinical samples and pharmaceutical formulations, with recoveries ranging from 95.20% to 102.48%.