Recent Developments in Voltammetric Analysis of Pharmaceuticals Using Disposable Pencil Graphite Electrodes

Abstract

The even growing production of both well-known and new derivatives with pharmaceutical action involves the need for developing facile and reliable methods for the analysis of these compounds. Among the widely used instrumental techniques, the electrochemical ones are probably the simplest and the most rapid, also having good performance characteristics. However, the key tool in electroanalysis is the working electrode. Due to the inherent electrochemical and economic advantages of the pencil graphite electrode (PGE), the interest in its applicability in the analysis of different analytes has continuously increased in recent years. Thus, this paper aims to review the scientific reports published in the last 10 years on the use of the disposable eco- and user-friendly PGEs in the electroanalysis of compounds of pharmaceutical importance in different matrices. The PGE characteristics and designs (bare or modified with various types of materials), along with their applications and performance parameters (e.g., linear range, limit of detection, and reproducibility), will be discussed, and their advantages and limitations will be critically emphasized.

Recent Trends in the Development of Carbon-Based Electrodes Modified with Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Antibiotic Electroanalysis

“…Despite the fact that the use of PGEs in electrochemistry brings certain benefits (costeffective, easily accessible, stable, etc. ), a fact emphasized by the huge number of papers related to its use [58,62,98], there is only one report regarding the application of this transducer for the development of a MIP-based sensor for antibiotics, namely MMZ [99]. In that study, before modification with MIP, the PGE was electrochemically pre-treated by CV in an H 2 SO 4 medium in order to enhance the sensitivity and obtain stable signals.…”

“…On the contrary, electrochemical techniques offer simpler, more rapid alternatives and have the major advantages that the instrumentation is cheaper and can be miniaturized, thus enabling in situ analysis. Works regarding antibiotic electroanalysis using both bare [56][57][58] or modified electrodes [59], including aptasensors [60,61], can be found in the literature of the last few years. There are also some general reviews regarding the various types of electrochemical sensors (mainly modified with graphene [62][63][64] or nanomaterials [65,66]) and methods developed for antibiotic analysis [37,40,67].…”

A pencil graphite-based disposable device for electrochemical monitoring of sulfanilamide in honey and water samples

“…10,13,14 In addition, the PGE has been used for the development of (bio)sensors with applications for the monitoring of metals, 15 pharmaceuticals, 16,17 glucose 18 and various other substances of clinical, environmental and food interest. [19][20][21] The demand for monitoring contaminant residues in water and food samples is associated with this requirement to develop new electrochemical devices. [22][23][24] In this scenario, antibiotics have been targeted as emerging pollutants, 25 that may be directly associated with the emergence of resistant bacterial genes.…”

“…10,13,14 In addition, the PGE has been used for the development of (bio)sensors with applications for the monitoring of metals, 15 pharmaceuticals, 16,17 glucose 18 and various other substances of clinical, environmental and food interest. 19–21…”

Electroanalysis of Naringin at Electroactivated Pencil Graphite Electrode for the Assessment of Polyphenolics with Intermediate Antioxidant Power

“…This involves an additional, tedious and time-consuming step, which can be eliminated by using disposable electrodes such as the pencil graphite electrode (PGE). In recent years PGE gained increasing applicability due to its similar or even better electrochemical characteristics in comparison to other commonly used working electrodes, besides its other inherent economic advantages (cost-effectiveness and easy availability) [ 35 , 36 ]. However, there are few reports using this electrode for the electroanalysis of bioflavonoids [ 34 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ] which, based on their oxidation potential [ 42 ], are considered to have intermediate antioxidant power (AOP) [ 43 ].…”