Stripping voltammetric detection of nephrotoxic drug cefitizoxime in wastewater

The objective of the present work is to develop the stripping voltammetric method for determination of nephrotoxic drug cefitizoxime in pharmaceutical formulation and its application to wastewater analysis. Solubilized system of different surfactants viz. cationic, anionic and non-ionic influences the electrochemical response of cefitizoxime. Solubilized system of CTAB containing cefitizoxime enhanced the peak current while anionic and non-ionic showed an opposite effect. The current signal due to the reduction process is a function of concentration of the cefitizoxime, pH of medium, type of surfactant and accumulation time at electrode surface. The proposed SWCAdSV (Squarewave Cathodic Adsorptive Voltammtery) and DPCAdSV (Differential Pulse Cathodic Adsorptive Voltammetry) are linear over concentration range 1.732–6.901 μg/mL and 4.792–30.672 μg/mL with detection limit of 0.76 ng/mL and 2.63 ng/mL, respectively. The method is successfully applied for determination of cefitizoxime in pharmaceutical formulation and wastewater with mean percentage recovery of 99.73% and 98.51%, respectively.