Simple, sensitive, and cost-effective voltammetric determination of salbutamol at a pencil graphite electrode modified with Nafion and functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes

This study describes a simple, highly sensitive, and cost-effective electrochemical determination of salbutamol (SBT) at a disposable pencil graphite electrode modified with Nafion/functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes composite material (Nf/f-MWCNTs/PGE). The electrochemical response of SBT at this modified electrode was investigated by both differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and cyclic voltammetry techniques. The voltammetric measurements confirmed that the combination of f-MWCNTs with Nafion shows remarkable electrocatalytic activity on the oxidation of SBT due to a synergistic effect of Nafion via electrostatic interaction and f-MWCNTs via excellent conductivity and large specific surface area. Differential pulse voltammetry results show that the composite electrode gives two linear ranges of 0.10–17.5 µM and 17.5–100 µM with a detection limit (LOD) of 0.027 µM SBT. Moreover, the studies of some potential interferants show that there is no significant interference in the determination of SBT. The proposed procedure was successfully applied to determine SBT in tube- and syrup-type pharmaceutical formulations, animal feed, and beef meat samples, and acceptable results were obtained with high accuracy and precision. Moreover, the proposed sensor displays good intra-day and inter-day precisions for the voltammetric determination of SBT.

Graphical abstract