A novel sensor for antiviral drug Favipiravir in the treatment of COVID-19 designed by G/In 2 O 3 nanomaterial

Abstract

The world health organization (WHO) declared that the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 constituted a public health emergency of international concern. Thus, accredited fevipiravir (FVP) was one of the potential drugs for the treatment of Covid-19 infected patients. Hence it is of interest to study the electrochemical behavior of FVP. We report the performance of a low-cost composite of graphene and indium oxide (G/In2O3) nanomaterial drop casted on pencil graphite electrode employed to detect FVP. The G/In2O3 was prepared by a simple precipitation method. The electrochemical study of FVP was carried out by using cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and chronoamperometry. The G/In2O3 modified electrode detects FVP well in Britton Robinson (BR) buffer pH of 7.2. The oxidation peak was observed at the potential range of 1.0 to 1.23 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The linear range detection limit was estimated to be 10 µl to 70 µl. The calculated sensitivity is 17.49 µA µM-1 cm-2 and the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 3.0nM and 10.0nM. The fabricated cost-effective G/In2O3 electroactive biosensor was effectively employed to regulate FAV in urine and tablet samples with adequate repossession. The proposed sensor offers good selectivity, sensitivity and long-term stability.