A novel electrochemical sensor based on CuCo2O4/NCNTs modified glassy carbon electrode for simultaneous determination of 6-thioguanine and dasatinib in biological samples

Abstract

A brand-new electrochemical sensor was created to detect 6-thioguanine (6-TG) and dasatinib (Das), two anticancer medications, at the same time. The sensor is made up of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) that has been altered to include a nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) and copper cobalt oxide (CuCo2O4) nanocomposite. Various characterization techniques like transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the successful synthesis of the CuCo2O4/NCNTs nanostructures. Detailed electrochemical analyses using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) demonstrated the electrocatalytic activity of CuCo2O4/NCNTs and the successful fabrication of the modified glassy carbon electrode. The study of the influence of pH and scan rate revealed that two electrons and two protons are involved in the reduction process of the 6-TG and Das. Also, a diffusion-controlled process mainly controls the reaction mechanism of CuCo2O4/NCNTs/GCE for the detection of Das and 6-TG. The synergy between CuCo2O4 and NCNTs resulted in signal amplification and enhanced sensitivity. The DPV response was linear for 6-TG (0.01–400 μM) and Das (0.01–200 fμM), with low detection limits of 0.008 μM and 0.005 μM, respectively. The sensor showed good stability, reproducibility, selectivity, and recovery for 6-TG and Das detection in real samples with minimal interferences. Overall, this work provides a reliable new platform for sensitive simultaneous detection of important anticancer therapeutics.