A simple synthesis of nitrogen doped porous graphitic carbon: Electrochemical determination of paracetamol in presence of ascorbic acid and p-aminophenol

•Synthesis of porous nitrogen doped carbon using zinc acetate as hard template from easily available precursors.•Nitrogen doped carbon shows superior electrocatalytic properties.•Analysis of paracetamol in biological and pharmaceuticals sample.

Graphite paste electrode modified with nitrogen doped porous carbon (NDPC) is used for the detections of paracetamol (PCM), ascorbic acid (AA) and p-aminophenol (PAP) at relatively low concentration. NDPC is synthesized by direct carbonization of Zn(OAc)2 incorporated melamine-formaldehyde resin microsphere. The NDPC shows small pore diameters centered at 3.14 nm and 8.12 nm and has a pseudo graphitic structure with reasonable porous matrix. The lower limit of detections (S/N = 3) for PCM, AA, and PAP are found to be 30 nM, 720 nM and 10 nM respectively. Under optimized experimental condition, the linear ranges of determination for PCM and AA are 1–400 μM, 10–2700 μM respectively in mixture. Similarly for PCM and PAP mixture, the linear ranges of determination are found to be 1–90 μM. It is also used for the analysis of urine and pharmaceutical products with better sensitivity.

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