Electrochemical sensing of gatifloxacin using Ag2S/RGO nanocomposite

As a widely-used fluoroquinolone antibiotics, 1-Cyclopropyl-6-fluoro-8-methoxy-7-(3-methyl-1-piperazinyl)-4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-3-quinolinecarboxylic acid (gatifloxacin, GAT) has aroused much concern recently and it is of great importance to realize the accurate and efficient detection. Herein, the silver sulfide/reduced graphene oxide composite (Ag₂S/RGO) was synthesized with one-pot method and was coated on the glassy carbon electrode to develop an effective electrochemical sensor for GAT. After the optimization of the size of Ag₂S, the pH of buffer solution, and the scanning rate, the Ag₂S/RGO modified electrode exhibits good linear relationship to GAT within wide ranges of 0.2 µM − 20 µM and 20 µM − 250 µM with a detection limit of 0.0667 µM. Besides, the proposed sensor shows good selectivity to GAT versus multiple interferences, including organic compounds, ions, and other antibiotics. At last, the proposed sensor was successfully applied in the GAT analysis in various real samples (including shrimp, fish, and chicken) with satisfying recoveries of 91.8 % − 102.4 %. In general, the proposed Ag₂S/RGO-based electrochemical sensor provides a novel strategy for the GAT analysis, which is of significance for the development of efficient analytical techniques for antibiotics.