Durable nonenzymatic electrochemical sensing using silver decorated multi-walled carbon nanotubes for uric acid detection

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate a facile, durable and inexpensive technique of producing silver nanoparticles-decorated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT/AgNP) on the easy-to-use screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) for non-enzymatic detection of uric acid (UA) in an electrochemical sensor. The developed sensors show great durability for three months in storage, and high specificity performance for preclinical study using spiked UA in a synthetic urine sample. A simple route for this hybrid nanocomposite was proposed through an oxidation–reduction with reflux (ORR) process. A significant increase in the electroactive surface area of SPCE was achieved by modifying it with MWCNT/AgNP. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed this synthesis. The nanocomposite nanostructure electrodes achieved an outstanding UA detection with sensitivity of 0.1021 μA μM−1 and a wide dynamic range of 10–1000 μM. In phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), the measurements achieved a detection limit of 84.04 nM while in pure synthetic urine; it was 6.074 μM. The constructed sensor exhibits excellent stability and durability for several months, and great specificity against interfering compounds, including dopamine (DA), urea, and glucose. Overall, the present outcomes denote the potential of MWCNT/AgNP-decorated SPCE for early uric acid diagnostics tools in health monitoring.