A novel molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor based on a nitrogen-doped graphene oxide quantum dot and molybdenum carbide nanocomposite for indometacin determination

Abstract

In this work, nitrogen-doped graphene oxide quantum dots (N-GOQDs) were embedded into Mo₂C to prepare a nanocomposite with great electrical conductivity and a large specific surface area. We manufactured an innovative electrochemical sensor based on N-GOQDs–Mo₂C and a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the highly sensitive detection of indometacin (IDMC). The MIP was synthesized by electropolymerization using acrylamide as the functional monomer and IDMC as the template molecule. N-GOQDs–Mo₂C was organized by an elementary hydrothermal approach and characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD and FT-IR. In the first-rank experimental conditions, the MIP electrochemical sensor shows a wide linear range from 10⁻¹⁵ M to 10⁻⁵ M for IDMC detection and the detection limit is as low as 9.508 × 10⁻¹⁶ M. Additionally, the manufactured sensor shows great selectivity for indometacin, excellent repeatability and stableness. The sensor can be applied to the detection of indometacin in tablets and water samples with fulfilling consequence.