Simultaneous determination of some opioid drugs using Cu-hemin MOF@MWCNTs as an electrochemical sensor

Due to its toxicological and pharmacological activity, the misuse and overuse of morphine (MO), codeine (CO), and heroine have attracted attention in the medical and forensic toxicology fields. This study proposed a new electrochemical sensor with an acceptable detection limit, linear range, and selectivity for simultaneous determination of MO and CO. This sensor is based on Cu-Hemin metal-organic framework (CHM) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). First, a facile chemical method was chosen to synthesize CHM and then composite it with MWCNTs. Afterward, the structure of CHM@MWCNTs was verified by XRD, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, UV–vis, ICP-OES, FE-SEM, EDX, and elemental mapping. In the next step, under optimal conditions, this electrochemical sensor can sensitive simultaneous determination of MO and CO, showing a dynamic concentration range from 0.09 to 30 μM for both species and a low detection limit of 9.2 nM and 11.2 nM for MO and CO, respectively. Moreover, the applicability in real samples was confirmed by the simultaneous determination of MO and CO in human urine and MO injection. This work reveals a trustable sensor based on MOF and MWCNTs to simultaneously determine opioid drugs in clinical application.

Keywords: Opioid drug Hemin Metal-organic frameworks MWCNTs Electrochemical sensor Toxicology