Simultaneous determination of 4-aminophenol and paracetamol based on CS-Ni nanocomposite-modified screen-printed disposable electrodes

In the present work, chitosan-coated nickel nanoparticles (CS-Ni) were successfully prepared onto screen-printed electrode (SPE) by electrodeposition method with the assistance of an anionic surfactant of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) for the individual and simultaneous sensing of 4-aminophenol (4-AP) and paracetamol (PA). The as-prepared sensor was characterized via scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and fourier transform infrared techniques. The electrochemical catalytic behaviors of the 4-AP and PA on the fabricated NiNPs-SDS/CS/SPE electrode were explored using cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The NiNPS-SDS/CS modified screen-printed electrode demonstrated excellent electrocatalytic activity for 4-AP and PA, indicating that nickel microstructures have a high specific surface area, excellent electrical conductivity, and high electrocatalytic activity. The results indicate that CV and DPV could be easily applied to determine 4-AP and PA using the fabricated sensor under optimized conditions. However, CV is preferred for both analysts’ sensing, with the largest linear range from 1 to 500 μM for 4-AP ( R 2 = 0.999) and 1 μM to 2 mM ( R 2 = 0.997) for PA, respectively. In terms of sensitivity and detection limit, DPVs response appeared to be a better technique choice, as it revealed the highest sensitivity values of 0.959 µA µM −1 cm −2 for 4-AP and 1.163 µA µM −1 cm −2 for PA, with the lowest detection limits of 0.06 and 0.04 μM for 4-AP and PA ( S / N = 3), respectively. With a high recovery rate, good selectivity, excellent reproducibility, and strong anti-interference ability, the modified sensor was successfully applied to the simultaneous detection of 4-AP and PA in pharmaceutical tablets. It is expected to be widely used in actual sample detection. Graphical abstract