Electrooxidation of trifloxystrobin at the boron-doped diamond electrode: electrochemical mechanism, quantitative determination and degradation studies

<p>The boron-doped diamond (BDD) presents attractive electrochemical sensing characteristics that are useful in analytical applications based on voltammetry and amperometry. It has a wide potential window in aqueous solutions enabling the quantification of the fungicide trifloxystrobin, measured at +1744 mV (<i>versus</i> Ag/AgCl), by square-wave anodic voltammetry in a Britton–Robinson (BR) buffer (0.04 mol L^−1; pH 4.00)/acetonitrile 70/30% v/v. The activation of the electrode was made using galvanostatic chronopotentiometry and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The linear analyte addition curve, <i>I</i><i>_p</i> (µA) = (1.0 × 10^–1 ± 4.8 × 10^–6) C (mol L⁻¹) + (8.8 × 10^–2 ± 1.1 × 10^–3); <i>R</i>² = 0.997, was obtained using amplitude of 40 mV, frequency of 30 Hz, step potential of 20 mV. The instrumental limit of detection (LOD) was 1.4 × 10^–7 mol L⁻¹ (0.058 mg L⁻¹) and the dynamic linear range covered three decades (up to 1 × 10^–5 mol L⁻¹ or 4.1 mg L⁻¹). The samples were analysed with recoveries about 80% in orange juice samples and from 92.4% to 104.0% in water samples. A study to evaluate potential interferences was made in the presence of other fungicides. Diagnostic studies indicated that oxidation of trifloxystrobin in aqueous medium at the surface of the BDD is irreversible, involving two steps, each one with two electrons. The UV degradation of trifloxystrobin was evaluated using the proposed electrochemical method and the kinetics of degradation established with half-life of 1.07 min.</p

Comparison of Gold Nanoparticles Prepared Using Monobasic Sodium Citrate or Sodium Borohydride for Neomycin Determination in Saliva after Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) on a Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (MIP)

Two distinct spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were compared for the spectrophotometric determination of neomycin in saliva. The AuNPs were produced using AuCl3 and monobasic sodium citrate (in water bath at 100 °C) under magnetic stirring (AuNPs-citrate) and using HAuCl4 and NaBH4, at room-temperature under mechanical agitation in a commercial reactor (AuNPs-H). Both AuNPs were spherical with diameters of 7.7 nm (AuNPs-H) and 26.1 nm (AuNPs-citrate) and the maximum wavelength of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) bands were at 511 nm (AuNPs-H) and 529 nm (AuNPs-citrate). Equivalent spectral extinctions were found despite the fact the large difference in concentrations of AuNPs in dispersions: 4.2 × 10−9 mol L−1 for the AuNPs-H and 8.7 × 10−11 mol L−1 for the AuNPs-citrate. Both AuNPs interacted with aminoglycosides (AMG), affecting intensity of the LSPR band as the concentration of AMG increased. The response of the AuNPs-H was more sensitive toward AMG covering the following ranges: 0.6–600 µg L−1 (gentamicin), 7.3–550 µg L−1 (neomycin) and 14–520 µg L−1 (kanamycin). AuNPs-H optical response was more robust in function of the pH with AuNPs-citrate response only observed in acid solution, favoring electrostatic interaction with AMG. Catalytic activity of AuNPs-H, in reducing the 4-phenolate ion, presented a higher rate constant (4.3 × 10−3 s−1) and was used as analytical probe to determine neomycin in saliva after solid phase extraction with a commercially available AMG imprinted polymer enabling quantification to 0.36 μg of the analyte.</p