Electrochemical detection of blood doping in sports: A novel biosensor based on nickel oxide/nitrogen-doped graphene oxide nanocomposite

Abstract

This paper presents a novel sensor for the electrochemical detection of ephedrine (EPD), a precursor compound used in the illicit production of amphetamines and related drugs. The sensor is based on a modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with nickel oxide/nitrogen-doped graphene oxide nanocomposite (NiO/NGO). The NiO/NGO nanocomposite was created hydrothermally and examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods. The successful nitrogen doping of graphene oxide (GO) and the anchoring of NiO nanoparticles on GO nanosheets in the nanocomposite are confirmed by all characterization studies. Measurements using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were used to assess the electrochemical performance of the NiO/NGO/GCE. The NiO/NGO/GCE showed good sensitivity, stability, and selectivity for EPD detection, with a linear range of 10–2580 µM and a detection limit of 0.09 µM. Moreover, the NiO/NGO/GCE was effectively used to calculate EPD in actual blood serum samples, yielding findings that were both reproducible and adequate (the recovery values varied from 98.80% to 99.40%, and the RSD values from 3.591% to 4.21%). The suggested biosensor provides an easy, quick, and affordable way to detect EPD in sports doping control.

Keywords

• Nickel Oxide
• Nitrogen-doped Graphene Oxide
• Nanocomposite
• Ephedrine
• Electrochemical Sensor