Graphene Oxide/1-butyl-3-Methylimidazolium Tetrafluoroborate Nanocomposite: Synthesis, Characterization and its Application for the Electrochemical Determination of an Antihistamine and Anticholinergic Embramine

Abstract

This paper discusses the synthesis and application of graphene oxide (GO)/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [BMIM][BF4] nanocomposite. The nanocomposite, GO/[BMIM][BF4],was characterized using XRD, XPS, EDX, FESEM, TEM, FT-IR, and Raman techniques. The dispersion of [BMIM][BF4] ionic liquid (IL)in the graphene oxide nanochannels provided remarkable interfacial property to the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface. GO/[BMIM][BF4]modified GCE sensor enhanced the anodic peak current intensity of Embramine (EMB), which was found proportional to the drug concentration within the range of 4.9 to 24.7 ng l−1, with a detection limit of 1.5 ng l−1 and the quantification limit of 4.6 ng l−1. The redox behavior at varying scan rates revealed that the electro-oxidation process of EMB at GO/IL/GCE was an irreversible diffusion-controlled process. The applicability of the proposed method was further studied for the successful quantification of EMB in the pharmaceutical formulation and human blood plasma.