Nanoscale determination of antiviral drug acyclovir engaging bifunctionality of single walled carbon nanotubes - nafion film

An elementary and exemplary approach is proposed for the accurate monitoring of antiviral drug acyclovir (ACV) utilizing glassy carbon electrode (GCE) fabricated with single-walled carbon nanotubes and nafion composite film employing square wave voltammetry for the first time. The developed sensor exhibits effective and sustained electron mediating behavior displaying higher peak currents at lower potential than those obtained at bare GCE. At optimal experimental conditions, oxidation current showed a wide linear response for ACV in the concentration range from 10 nM to 30 μM. The proposed sensor exhibited pronounced analytical performance for the determination of ACV with limit of detection corresponding to 1.8 nM and high sensitivity of 15.4 μA μM^-1. The modified sensor showcased high recognition selectivity, fair reproducibility and long term stability of signal response in the physiological environment. The developed prototype was successfully implemented to quantify ACV in several commercially available pharmaceuticals. The versatile method described herein was efficaciously applied further in detecting ACV in real human urine sample of patient undergoing pharmacological treatment with ACV. The results explicitly demonstrate the applicability of the developed sensor in quality control, pharmacokinetic studies and clinical analysis.