Nanosilica grafted by sulfonic acid: a novel nanocomposite towards amplification of mitoxantrone electrooxidation signals

Abstract

A novel nanocomposite based on nano-SiO2 (Nanosilica) grafted by sulfonic acid was prepared and characterized using atomic force microscopy technique. Cyclic voltammetry chronoamperometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and differential pulse voltammetry were used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of mitoxantrone at the sulfonic acid-functionalized nano-SiO2, which was modified through glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The Nanosilica–SO3H–GCE showed better performance for the electrochemical oxidation of mitoxantrone, when compared with bare GCE. The experimental conditions influencing the determination of mitoxantrone were optimized and under optimal conditions, the oxidation peak current was proportional to mitoxantrone concentration in the range of 0.5–173 μM, while the detection limit was 36.8 μM (S/N = 3). The proposed method was successfully applied to determine mitoxantrone in spiked human serum, yielding satisfactory results. The spiked recoveries were in the range of 101–106%.