Decoration of titanium dioxide nanotubes with silver nanoparticles using the photochemical deposition method and their application as an electrocatalyst to determine tinidazole

Abstract

In this study, titanium nanotube electrodes were decorated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs/TiO₂NTs) and used as an electrocatalyst for the reduction of tinidazole. AgNPs/TiO₂NTs are constructed by anodization of titanium sheet metal and photochemical deposition of AgNPs on TiO₂NTs. The structural and elemental analysis characteristics of the AgNPs/TiO₂NT electrode have been studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. Based on the cyclic voltammetric data, it has been confirmed that the AgNPs/TiO₂NT electrode has good electrocatalytic activity to reduce tinidazole. Two liner concentration ranges of 0.2–55.0 μM and 55.0–111.2 μM were obtained by amperometric method. A detection limit of 60.9 nM was obtained for measuring tinidazole at the AgNPs/TiO₂NT electrode surface. In addition, the designed sensor has been successfully used for quantitative measurement of tinidazole in pharmaceutical and human urine samples.