Mesoporous Pd@Pt core–shell nanoparticles supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes as a sensing platform: application in simultaneous electrochemical detection of anticancer drugs doxorubicin and dasatinib

Abstract

In this work, a novel highly sensitive electrochemical sensing platform has been developed for simultaneous determination of anticancer drugs doxorubicin (DOX) and dasatinib (DAS) by means of mesoporous Pd@Pt core–shell nanoparticles supported on MWCNT (Pd@Pt/MWCNT). The electrochemical behaviour of the drugs was assessed through cyclic voltammetry, while simultaneous determination was carried out using adsorptive stripping square wave voltammetry (AdSSWV). Under optimized conditions, the method exhibits linear responses towards simultaneous determination of DOX and DAS in the concentration ranges of 4.4–8580 nM and 38–9880 nM, with detection limits of 0.86 and 6.72 nM, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed platform was successfully used for reliable determination of DOX and DAS in urine and blood serum samples with good accuracy and precision. The satisfactory recoveries obtained in blood serum and urine samples showed the potential for application of the proposed platform in quality control in the pharmaceutical industry, clinical analysis and optimization of chemotherapeutic treatment. We found that the established sensor has several advantages in terms of high sensitivity and selectivity, ease of preparation, short analysis time, long-term stability and fast response.