Novel sensitive electrochemical detection of paracetamol using magnetite/MXene electrode by differential pulse voltammetry

In this research work, a novel electrochemical sensor-based Fe₃O₄/Ti₃C₂ MXene @ glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for the detection of paracetamol was prepared by simple ultrasonic method by combining Ti₃C₂ MXene and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The Fe₃O₄/Ti₃C₂ MXene nanomaterial was characterized by the means of different techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, as well as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The characterization results revealed the homogenous distribution of the prepared cubic Fe₃O₄ NPs within the prepared two-dimensional layered Ti₃C₂ MXene. The Fe₃O₄/Ti₃C₂ MXene @ GCE was used for the sensitive determination of the well-known analgesic drug paracetamol by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The prepared Fe₃O₄/Ti₃C₂ MXene @ GCE was characterized electrochemically, and the results showed that Fe₃O₄/Ti₃C₂ MXene @ GCE is a potential working electrode for the sensitive detection of paracetamol with very low detection limit (0.63 nM), within a linear dynamic range of 0.0–110.0 µM, high reproducibility and repeatability; with a very low relative standard deviation (SD%) for 7 days measurement (3.07–3.42 %), accuracy with a SD% of 0.89, high precision of 99.48 % in distilled water and 98.51 % in sea water. The proposed electroanalytical method was applied for the detection and quantification of paracetamol in real water samples, as well as different analgesic medical formulations, and the results showed outstanding accuracy and precision indicating the suitability of the Fe₃O₄/Ti₃C₂ MXene @ GCE electrode for the sensitive, accurate determination of paracetamol in diferrent matrices.