The use and abuse of prescription and illicit drugs are on the rise worldwide and as a result residue of these drugs and their metabolites are continually being disposed into the environment through sewage system and other means. Therefore, this paper reports on the development of a cost-effective, simple and sensitive approach that involved the fabrication of an electrochemical sensor from exfoliated graphite (EG) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the detection of selected psychoactive drugs in water. The fabricated electrochemical sensor was characterized using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) to ascertain its surface morphology characteristics and cyclic voltammetry (CV) for ascertaining the redox potential peak. The EG-AuNPs sensor was able to detect cocaine in water with limit of detection (LOD) and limit quantification (LOQ) of 0.82 and 2.74 µg/L, respectively under the pH of 12.25. The sensor was extended on other psychoactive drugs (methylphenidate, amphetamine and heroin) and one metabolite (6-acetylmorphine) to examine its applicability. The drugs were distinctively detected, and thus making EG-AuNPs electrode a possible alternative sensor for electrochemical detection of psychoactive drugs and their metabolites in synthetic and real water samples.

中文翻译：

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金纳米粒子修饰的脱落石墨电极作为电化学传感器测定精神药物。

在世界范围内，处方药和非法药物的使用和滥用正在上升，结果，这些药物及其代谢产物的残留物不断通过排污系统和其他手段排入环境。因此，本文报道了一种具有成本效益，简单而灵敏的方法的开发，该方法涉及由剥落的石墨（EG）和金纳米颗粒（AuNPs）制成的电化学传感器的制造，用于检测水中选定的精神活性药物。使用扫描电子显微镜结合能量色散X射线光谱法（SEM-EDS）表征制造的电化学传感器，以确定其表面形态特征，并使用循环伏安法（CV）确定氧化还原电势峰。EG-AuNPs传感器能够在pH为12.25的条件下以0.82和2.74 µg / L的检测限（LOD）和定量限（LOQ）检测水中的可卡因。该传感器扩展到其他精神活性药物（哌醋甲酯，苯丙胺和海洛因）和一种代谢产物（6-乙酰吗啡）上，以检查其适用性。药物被独特地检测出来，因此使EG-AuNPs电极成为电化学检测合成和真实水样中的精神活性药物及其代谢物的可能替代传感器。