Amperometric Electrochemical Platform for Hydrazine Determination Exploiting Reduced Graphene Oxide, Co(Salophen) and DNA: Application in Pharmaceutical Formulations Samples

The present work presents the development of a sensitive and selective amperometric sensor for the determination of hydrazine (HZ) in pharmaceutical formulations using a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with a composite based on Co(Salophen), reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The rGO/Co(Salophen)/DNA composite was characterized by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), cyclic voltammetry, and amperometry. The proposed platform presented a well-defined voltammetric profile with a redox couple around 0.32 V vs. Ag/AgCl which showed excellent catalytic activity towards HZ oxidation. The peak current of HZ electrochemical oxidation on the proposed electrochemical platform have changed linearly with the HZ concentration in the range from 2 to 364 µmol L-1. The proposed platform presented sensitivity, limit of detection, and limit of quantification of 0.056 µA L µmol-1, 0.54 µmol L-1, and 1.64 µmol L-1 to HZ, respectively. The relative standard deviation for eight determinations using a solution of 50 µmol L-1 HZ was 0.85%. The proposed sensor was successfully applied for the determination of HZ in pharmaceutical formulations, and the recovery tests showed a good accuracy with recovery percentage between 99 and 101%.