An ultrasensitive electrochemical sensor for simultaneous determination of xanthine, hypoxanthine and uric acid based on Co doped CeO2 nanoparticles

A novel electrochemical sensor has been fabricated using Co doped CeO2 nanoparticles for selective and simultaneous determination of xanthine (XA), hypoxanthine (HXA) and uric acid (UA) in a phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH5.0) for the first time. The Co-CeO2 NPs have been prepared by microwave irradiation method and characterized by Powder XRD, Raman spectroscopy, HRTEM and VSM measurements. The electrochemical behaviours of XA, HXA and UA at the Co-CeO2 NPs modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) were studied by cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry methods. The modified electrode exhibited remarkably well-separated anodic peaks corresponding to the oxidation of XA, HXA and UA over the concentration range of 0.1–1000, 1–600 and 1–2200μM with detection limits of 0.096, 0.36, and 0.12μM (S/N=3), respectively. For simultaneous detection by synchronous change of the concentrations of XA, HXA and UA, the linear responses were in the range of 1–400μM each with the detection limits of 0.47, 0.26, and 0.43μM (S/N=3), respectively. The fabricated sensor was further applied to the detection of XA, HXA and UA in human urine samples with good selectivity and high reproducibility. [Display omitted] •A novel electrochemical sensor has been fabricated for simultaneous determination of purine metabolites xanthine, hypoxanthine, and uric acid based on Co doped CeO2 nanoparticles.•The Co-CeO2 modified glassy carbon electrode exhibited wide linear range towards the detection of XA, HXA and UA than ever reported in the literature.•The fabricated sensor was successfully applied for the analysis of human urine samples with satisfactory results.