Polymer-modified screen-printed gold electrode for sensitive electrochemical detection of doxorubicin

Abstract

Screen-printing technology has proven to be an effective approach for fabricating highly sensitive and accurate electrochemical sensors, offering applications across diverse fields. The method's inherent benefits, including improved sensitivity, selectivity, and stability, coupled with its capacity for miniaturization, portability, and on-site real-time detection, have established screen-printed electrodes as essential tools in sensor development. These features have made them particularly valuable for pharmaceutical and biological analyses, especially for detecting trace levels of biomolecules. Our study introduces a novel electrochemical sensor based on a polymer-modified screen- printed gold electrode for detecting doxorubicin at clinically relevant concentrations. The modification involved a nanocomposite comprising reduced graphene oxide decorated with gold nanoparticles embedded within a Nafion matrix — a configuration not previously reported in the literature for DOX sensor construction. The sensor demonstrated precise quantification of doxorubicin using cyclic voltammetry, achieving a wide linear concentration range from 1.5 to 22.1 μM and a low detection limit of 11.462 μM under optimized conditions. Its high surface area, functionalization capability, excellent sensitivity, and rapid response underscore its potential for practical applications in anticancer drug monitoring.