This work presents the construction of a novel electrochemical sensor for detection of organic analytes, using a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with a chitosan-supported ruthenium film. The ruthenium-chitosan film was obtained starting from the mer-[RuCl3(dppb)(H2O)] complex as a [1,4-bis(diphenylphosphine)butane] (dppb) precursor, and chitosan (QT). The structure of the chitosan-supported ruthenium film on the surface of the glassy carbon electrode was characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) techniques. The glassy carbon electrode was modified with a film formed from the evaporation of 5 µL of a solution composed of 5 mg chitosan-supported ruthenium (RuQT) in 10 mL of 0.1 mol L-1 acetic acid. The modified electrode was tested as a sensor for sildenafil citrate (Viagra® 50 mg) and acetaminophen (Tylenol®) detection. The technique utilized for these analyses was differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in 0.1 mol L-1 H2SO4 (pH 1.0) and 0.1 mol L-1 CH3COOK (pH 6.5) as supporting electrolyte. All analyses were carried out during a month using the same electrode. The electrode was washed only with water in between the analyses, keeping it in the refrigerator when it was not in use. This electrode was stable during the period utilized showing no degradation and presenting a linear response over the evaluated concentration interval (1.25 × 10-5 to 4.99 × 10-4 mol L-1).
polymer-supported ruthenium compound; chitosan; modified glassy carbon electrode; electrochemical sensor; sildenafil citrate; acetaminophen
