Electrochemical determination of xanthine oxidase inhibitor drug in urate lowering therapy using graphene nanosheets modified electrode

We report the electrochemical determination of urate lowering therapeutic drug, allopurinol (AP) using the electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The ERGO modified GCE was fabricated by self–assembling graphene oxide (GO) on 1,6-hexadiamine (HDA) modified GCE by the electrostatic interaction between the positively charged amine group and the negatively charged GO layers followed by the electrochemical reduction of GO layers at negative potential. XPS results confirmed the attachment of GO and its electrochemical reduction. The electrochemical behavior of AP was examined at ERGO modified electrode in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA). It was found that ERGO modified electrode not only enhanced the oxidation currents of AP, AA and UA but also showed stable signals for them for repetitive potential cycles. The present modified electrode was successfully used to determine these analytes simultaneously in a mixture. Selective determination of AP in the presence of high concentrations of AA and UA was also demonstrated at ERGO modified GCE. Using amperometry, detections of 40 and 200 nM of UA and AP were achieved and the detection limits were found to be 9.0 × 10−9 M and 1.1 × 10−7 M, respectively (S/N = 3). Further, the practical application of the present modified electrode was demonstrated by simultaneously determining the concentrations of AA, UA and AP in human blood serum and urine samples.