Simultaneous voltammetric detection of anti-depressant drug, sertraline HCl and paracetamol in biological fluid at CNT-cesium modified electrode in micellar media

•A novel sensor multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) and cesium (Cs) modified carbon paste electrode.•Sensitive and fast determination of SER in drug substance, commercial product and in serum.•Simultaneous determination of SER and co-administered drug paracetamol (PAR).•The obtained result were compared successfully with respect to those obtained using the official method.•The proposed sensor can be applied into clinical analysis, quality control and a routine determination of drug in pharmaceutical formulation. Sertraline (SER), a selective serotonin uptake inhibitor, one of the most prescribed medication for many psychological disorders. The side effects sertraline is not as much as tricyclic antidepressants however it has the same efficacy. Thus quick and the green estimation of very low concentrations of SER are of an important point of view. A new voltammetric sensor was developed for the direct and responsive estimation of SER in authentic sample, pharmaceutical formulation and in serum moreover simultaneous determination of SER and co-administered drug paracetamol (PAR) were ascertained. Electro-analysis of SER was successfully achieved by modification the paste carbon rod with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) and cesium (Cs) in micellar media (sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)). The voltammetric estimation of SER was achieved in a wide range of linearity 60.0 nM to 15.0 µM (correlation coefficient 0.9998) alongside a high sensitivity (LOD 9.2 × 10−9 M). The modified electrode (CNT/CsMCPE/SDS) was used for estimation of SER in parallel with uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA) as familiar interfering substances in biological fluid. Acceptable recoveries of SER simply showed that the used sensor could be hands-on quality control, clinical analysis and a routine estimation of drug in medicinal formulation.