Development of a sensitive electrochemical sensor for ractopamine detection using Nd2O3@Sm2O3-CNTs/GCE platform

A sensitive electrochemical sensor was developed by sonication of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and nanoparticles of neodymium and samarium oxide (Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 ). The electrochemical sensor (Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 -CNTs/GCE) possessing an electrochemically active surface area of 0.66 cm 2 and a charge transfer resistance (Rct) of 139 Ω could be utilized as a promising material compared to GCE, and CNTs/GCE. The Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 -CNTs/GCE system exhibited improved voltammetric behavior of ractopamine owing to the outstanding synergistic effect between Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 and CNTs . The enhancement in electrochemical oxidation of ractopamine can be attributed to the synergistic effect between Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 nanoparticles and CNTs, where the Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 nanoparticles offer a high surface area and active sites, including oxygen vacancies that facilitate the oxidation of ractopamine, while the CNTs contribute excellent electrical conductivity , thereby accelerating electron transfer between the electrode surface and the analyte. A dynamic working range was obtained for the concentration of ractopamine between 2.0 × 10 −8 and 5.0 × 10 −5 M. Novel platform yielded 1.0 × 10 −9 M as the limit of detection (LOD) for the determination of ractopamine. The present study yielding recoveries of 98.7–101.1 % and lower RSD% values confirms that Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 -CNTs/GCE enables precise and accurate measurements of ractopamine in biological fluids. In addition, voltammetric measurements provided a ΔG 0 value of −22.7 kJ/mol for the interaction between ractopamine and DNA at 25 °C. This revealed that the binding process between DNA and ractopamine occurs spontaneously. • Nanoparticles of Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 were prepared by means of ultrasonication. • Nd 2 O 3 @Sm 2 O 3 and CNTs were used to construct a novel voltametric platform. • The platform exhibited improved voltammetric behavior of ractopamine. • The proposed sensor enables an accurate and precise analysis of biological fluids. • ΔG 0 value of −22.7 kJ/mol reveals that ractopamine interacts with DNA.