ERGI HOXHA, NEVILA BROLI, MAJLINDA VASJARI
KEYWORDS : Atenolol; square wave voltammetry; CPE/MWCNT nanocomposite; cyclic voltammetry; pharmaceutical tablets.
Abstract
The multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) modified carbon paste electrode (MWCNTs/CPE) was prepared and studied for a sensitive determination of β-blocker Atenolol (ATN). The nanocomposite electrode MWCNT/CPE exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity towards ATN oxidation in 0.1 mol L−1 H2SO4 using cyclic voltammetry technique. The analytical performance of the modified sensor was evaluated using square wave voltammetry (SWV) and chronoamperometry (CA) in 0.1 mol L−1 sulphuric acid solution (H2SO4). Under optimal conditions, linear calibration curves were obtained for atenolol detection ranging from 66 to 909 μmol L−1 and 406 to 2475 μmol L−1 with detection limits of 8.0 and 5.7 μmol L−1 using CA and SWV techniques respectively. The modified nanocomposite MWCNTs/CPE sensor showed good sensitivity and good repeatability (RSD ≤ 1.1%) for ATN determination. This electrochemical nanosensor was successfully applied to determine atenolol in biological (human urine) and pharmaceutical (ATN tablet) samples. The obtained results proved that the developed method for atenolol determination might be successfully applied in routine laboratory practice.