Electrochemical paracetamol detection using disposable pencil graphite electrodes

Paracetamol (Par) is a widely consumed antipyretic and analgesic drug. Its global use to reduce or prevent fever is increasing day by day, especially after the pandemic era. It has been detected in natural water resources and has emerged as a potential water contaminant.Therefore, the development of miniaturized detection platforms for the detection of Par has become an attractive topic. Herein, a disposable pencil graphite electrode (PGE) was used in combination with the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique for the detection of Par. A passive adsorption strategy was implemented for the immobilization of Par molecules prepared in phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.40) on the PGE surface. Then, voltammetric measurements were performed. The experimental parameters were optimized according to the changes in the Par oxidation signal observed at +0.325V. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values were calculated as 7.06 µg/mL and 23.56 µg/mL, respectively, in the linear concentration range as 10-40 µg/mL using electrochemically pre-treated PGEs and a 30 min immobilization time. Finally, the greenness level of the proposed method was calculated as 0.77 using Analytical GREEnness Metric Approach and Software (AGREE). The voltammetric detection of Par could be performed using just 100 µL Par sample for < 30 s.