Simultaneous determination of environmental contaminants using a graphite oxide - Polyurethane composite electrode modified with cyclodextrin.

A composite electrode based on graphite oxide (GrO)-polyurethane (PU) modified with β-cyclodextrin (CD) was proposed for the simultaneous determination of three drugs: terbutaline (TER), nimesulide (NIM), and methocarbamol (MET), as possible contaminants in river water samples. To evaluate the performance of the proposed CD-GrOPUE, voltammetric techniques were used and two other electrodes were fabricated (GrOPUE and GrPUE) for comparison. The functionalization of the GrO was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy images, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis, and thermogravimetry. Cyclic voltammograms obtained for TER, NIM, and MET indicated an irreversible behaviour at 0.6 V, 0.9 V and 1.2 V (vs. Ag/AgCl (3 mol L-1 KCl)), respectively, on each working electrode, with the highest peak current values been obtained using the CD-GrOPUE. Under optimal conditions, using square-wave voltammetry, the linear ranges obtained (and limit of detection) for TER, NIM, and MET were 2.5-30 (0.55), 0.62-7.3 (0.083), and 0.62-7.3 (0.077) μmol L-1, respectively. The analytical method developed were applied in the simultaneous determination of TER, NIM, and MET in river water samples, with results like those obtained using a reference spectrophotometric method (at a confidence level of 95%). One can conclude, that the modification of GrO with CD arrays made possible the development of a robust and simple sensor platform for environmental analyses.