The simultaneous electrochemical determination of furazolidone and dimetridazole using transition metal titanates with an ilmenite type structure

The fabrication of transition metal ion-influenced titanates over the superficial region of glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) can stimulate the electrocatalytic activity owing to the surface functionalization abilities of titanates, improved electron transfer rates, higher active surface areas, etc. In this regard, we have fabricated different metal titanates (CoTiO3, NiTiO3, and ZnTiO3) on GCEs for the nanomolar-level simultaneous detection of the hazardous poultry feed antibiotics furazolidone (FZD) and dimetridazole (DMZ). Different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of the synthesized titanates. From these studies, the different formed metal titanates were pure without any impurities, and NiTiO3 showed more excellent electrochemical performance than the other two titanates. For simultaneous detection, CV and DPV techniques were utilized with working potentials (vs. Ag/AgCl) from 0 to -1 V and -0.2 to -0.9 V. For FZD and DMZ, well-defined and distinguishable peaks were obtained at around -0.45 V and -0.73 V. Our advanced sensor using a NiTiO3-modified electrode provided a decent linear range of 0.01 to 76 μM for FZD and DMZ with appreciable detection limits (4.082 and 7.059 nM) and sensitivities (0.589 and 1.019 μA μM-1 cm-2). Furthermore, real-time analysis carried out using chicken and sparrow egg samples led to good recovery results.