Gold-Platinum Core-Shell Nanoparticles with Thiolated Polyaniline and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for the Simultaneous Voltammetric Determination of Six Drug Molecules

In this proof-of-concept study, a novel nanocomposite of the thiolated polyaniline (tPANI), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and gold–platinum core-shell nanoparticles (Au@Pt) (tPANI-Au@Pt-MWCNT) was synthesized and utilized to modify a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for simultaneous voltammetric determination of six over-the-counter (OTC) drug molecules: ascorbic acid (AA), levodopa (LD), acetaminophen (AC), diclofenac (DI), acetylsalicylic acid (AS) and caffeine (CA). The nanocomposite (tPANI-Au@Pt-MWCNT) was characterized with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Using the sensor (GCE-tPANI-Au@Pt-MWCNT) in connection with differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), the calibration plots were determined to be linear up to 570.0, 60.0, 60.0, 115.0, 375.0 and 520.0 µM with limit of detection (LOD) of 1.5, 0.25, 0.15, 0.2, 2.0, and 5.0 µM for AA, LD, AC, DI, AS and CA, respectively. The nanocomposite-modified sensor was successfully used for the determination of these redox-active compounds in commercially available OTC products such as energy drinks, cream and tablets with good recovery yields ranging from 95.48 ± 0.53 to 104.1 ± 1.63%. We envisage that the electrochemical sensor provides a promising platform for future applications towards the detection of redox-active drug molecules in pharmaceutical quality control studies and forensic investigations.