The current study describes a simple
method to fabricate soy protein-based
nano-biocomposites (NBCs) impregnated with sago starch-capped copper
oxide nanorods (CuO NRs), for electrochemical detection of cytosine,
which is useful for de novo drug formulations in pharmaceutics. The
physicochemical properties of the NBCs were studied in detail and
might be useful for biomedical applications. CuO NRs of sizes of 18.1–22.7
nm were synthesized by varying the concentrations of sago starch (0.5–5
μM) and characterized using various analytical techniques. Sago
starch acts as both a reducing agent and stabilizer. The NRs show
better optical properties (increased band gap E
g = 3.01 eV), which could find potential applications in the
photovoltaic cells. The sago-capped CuO NRs were impregnated in soy
protein (1:1 ratio), and the physicochemical properties of the fabricated
nanobiocomposites (NBCs) were studied. Differential scanning calorimetry
(DSC)/thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was employed to determine the
thermodynamic parameters, and the results indicate enhanced thermal
stability of the NBCs. Moreover, increased water uptake of the NBCs
demonstrates the biodegradability of the prepared NBCs that can find
use in tissue engineering applications. This CuO-SG-SY/GCE can be
used for the detection and quantification of cytosine in real-sample
analysis. Thus, soy protein NBCs incorporated with sago starch-capped
CuO NRs provide a simple and facile route, which is ecofriendly and
cost-effective and has both industrial and pharmaceutical applications.