Fabrication of enzyme-less folic acid sensor probe based on facile ternary doped Fe2O3/NiO/Mn2O3 nanoparticles

Abstract

In this approach, folic acid (FA) sensor was fabricated with wet-chemically prepared Fe2O3/NiO/Mn2O3 nanoparticles (NPs), which was coated on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in the form of thin layers to create the desired sensor. The synthesized NPs were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Tunneling Electron Microscopy (TEM), surface area (BET), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) equipped with Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The fabricated sensor, Fe2O3/NiO/Mn2O3 NPs/Nafion/GCE is responded linearly in electrochemical method over 0.1 nM to 0.01 mM of folic acid (FA) and denoted as a dynamic range of detection (LDR). The slope of LDR is designated as the sensor sensitivity, which is appreciable (48.588 µA µM-1 cm−2). The lower limit of FA detection is evaluated at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, and it is equal to 96.89 ± 4.85 pM. The sensor analytical parameters such as stability, reproducibility, sensitivity, response time and long-time stability in buffer phase are found as outstanding. The FA sensor was valued to analyze the biological samples and found acceptable and satisfactory results. This prospective sensor might be an efficient probe for diagnosis of bio-samples in field of health career sector.

Keywords

• Folic acid sensor
• Fe2O3/NiO/Mn2O3 nanoparticles
• Glassy carbon electrode
• Health care safety
• Sensitivity
• Electrochemical method