A Novel Sensor Based On Carbon Paste Electrode Modified With Polypyrrole/Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes For The Electrochemical Detection Of Cytostatic Drug Rapamycin

The electrocatalytic oxidation of rapamycin, one of the most studied immunosuppressant, cancer-preventing drug, is investigated for the first time on the surface of the modified carbon paste electrode prepared by incorporating multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and conductive polymer pyrrole using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Rapamycin exhibited a well-defined oxidation peak at +1.1 V (versus Ag/AgCl) in Briton Robinson buffer solution with a pH 4.0. Effect of the most important experimental parameters was optimized and obtained signals are linear to the concentration of rapamycin in the range from 0.1 to 20 mu M with 0.06 mu M limit of detection. The repeatability is calculated as +/- 2 % and the reproducibility as +/- 5 %. The possible interfering compounds were tested showing negligible effect and the sensor was successfully applied for the determination of rapamycin in commercial pharmaceutical formulations with obtained recoveries in the range from 98 % to 102 %.