Eu2O3@Cr2O3 Nanoparticles-Modified Carbon Paste Electrode for Efficient Electrochemical Sensing of Neurotransmitters Precursor L-DOPA

• Published in: Biosensors (Basel) 2023-01, Vol.13 (2), p.201
• Main Authors: Mijajlović, Aleksandar, Ognjanović, Miloš, Manojlović, Dragan, Vlahović, Filip, Đurđić, Slađana, Stanković, Vesna, Stanković, Dalibor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brain research; Carbon; Chemical sensors; Chromium oxides; Dihydroxyphenylalanine; Dopamine; electrochemical sensor; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Europium; Europium compounds; hydrothermal synthesis; Levodopa; micromolar detection; Movement disorders; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurotransmitters; Parkinson's disease; Potassium; Rare earth elements; rare earth nanomaterial; Redox reactions; Sensors; Side effects; Silicon wafers; Voltammetry
• ISSN: 2079-6374; 2079-6374
• DOI: 10.3390/bios13020201

There are ten million people in the world who have Parkinson’s disease. The most potent medicine for Parkinson’s disease is levodopa (L-DOPA). However, long-term consumption of L-DOPA leads to the appearance of side effects, as a result of which the control and monitoring of its concentrations are of great importance. In this work, we have designed a new electrochemical sensor for detecting L-DOPA using a carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with Eu2O3@Cr2O3 composite nanoparticles. Rare earth elements, including Eu, are increasingly used to design new electrode nanocomposites with enhanced electrocatalytic properties. Europium has been considered a significant lanthanide element with greater redox reaction behavior. We conducted a hydrothermal synthesis of Eu2O3@Cr2O3 and, for the first time, the acquired nanoparticles were used to modify CPE. The proposed Eu2O3@Cr2O3/CPE electrode was investigated in terms of its electrocatalytic properties and then used to develop an analytical method for detecting and quantifying L-DOPA. The proposed sensor offers a wide linear range (1–100 µM), high sensitivity (1.38 µA µM−1 cm−2) and a low detection limit (0.72 µM). The practical application of the proposed sensor was investigated by analyzing commercially available pharmaceutical tablets of L-DOPA. The corresponding results indicate the excellent potential of the Eu2O3@Cr2O3/CPE sensor for application in real-time L-DOPA detection.