Intermetallic Compound Cu2Sb Nanoparticles for Effective Electrocatalytic Oxidation of an Antibiotic Drug: Sulphadiazine

The synthesis of ordered nanosized intermetallic compounds is of specific interest in tuning their surface properties to obtain enhanced electrocatalytic activity and selectivity, used for various practical applications. In these regards, single crystalline Cu2Sb nanoparticles have been investigated, which are rarely explored in electroanalysis. The Cu2Sb nanoparticle was synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method and applied to the electrochemical sensing of sulphadiazine (SUZ). The nature of the as-synthesized Cu2Sb nanoparticles was confirmed by electron microscopic and spectroscopic studies. A Cu2Sb nanoparticle-fabricated disposable screen-printed electrode (Cu2Sb/SPCE) for a nonenzymatic SUZ sensor shows an enhanced oxidation current with low reduction potential compared to the unmodified SPCE and modified unannealed Cu–Sb SPCE. Under optimum conditions, the differential pulse voltammetry result of the Cu2Sb-modified SPCE revealed a wide linear range from 0.09 to 818.18 μM with a lower limit of detection (70 nm) and higher sensitivity (59.2 μA mM–1 cm–2) toward SUZ. The essential practical feasibility of the proposed sensor was evaluated, and it showed excellent selectivity, stability, repeatability, and reproducibility. Furthermore, the sensor was used to detect SUZ in a cream sample, and it confirms the potential capability of real-time sensing.