A molecularly imprinted poly 2-aminophenol–gold nanoparticle–reduced graphene oxide composite for electrochemical determination of flutamide in environmental and biological samples

Abstract

A selective and sensitive electrochemical sensor based on reduced graphene oxide, gold nanoparticles, and molecularly imprinted poly 2-aminophenol was developed for electrochemical determination of flutamide in environmental and biological samples. The composite fabrication was electrochemically carried out and the composite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The spectroscopic results showed that polymerization of molecularly imprinted poly 2-aminophenol took place through a ladder structure system. After optimization of effective parameters on the response of the sensor, the obtained linear range, relative standard deviation (for a concentration of 50 μg L⁻¹ with five replicates) and limit of quantification for flutamide determination were determined to be 2–375 μg L⁻¹, 1.54% and 0.8 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The results showed that the application of poly 2-aminophenol in the structure of the proposed sensor using a molecular imprinting approach made the sensor highly selective toward flutamide, distinguishing it from similar nitro-containing compounds. The prepared sensor was successfully utilized to analyze environmental water and urine samples. The obtained results showed that the proposed method is in agreement with the HPLC method and can be used as a reliable alternative method for the analysis of flutamide.