A sensing platform based on nanocomposite materials composed of gold metal nanoparticles (AuNPs) and conducting polymer (CP) matrix has been developed for serotonin and epinephrine detection. The CP-AuNPs nanocomposite materials have been synthesized onto glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) by using novel electrochemical procedures based on sinusoidal currents (SC). The SC procedures ensured good control of the metal nanoparticles distribution, increased electrochemical surface area, and enhanced analytical performance. The proposed sensing platform displayed good analytical performance toward serotonin and epinephrine detection. A wide linear analytical response toward epinephrine in the range from 10 to 640 μM and a low detection limit of 1.4 μM epinephrine has been obtained. The sensing platform has also displayed a linear response toward serotonin in the range from 10 to 320 μM, with a detection limit of 5.7 μM serotonin. The sensing platform has been successfully applied in the analysis of epinephrine and serotonin in real samples of tap water and urine with good accuracy.
Keywords: epinephrine; metal nanoparticles; nanocomposite materials; serotonin; sinusoidal currents.