Non-enzymatic detection of 17β-estradiol in real samples using PANI@CeO2 nanocomposite

Herein, we developed a non-enzymatic biosensing platform using polyaniline (PANI) polymer matrix grafted with CeO2. The one-pot synthesized nanocomposite has been used for the detection of 17β-estradiol (E2). The homogeneous distribution of CeO2 onto the PANI matrix leads to an increase in surface area, conductivity, and effectiveness of the synthesized nanocomposite PANI@CeO2. The PANI@CeO2 nanocomposite was characterized using structural and morphological techniques. Further, the electrode fabrication was performed electrophoretically by depositing the PANI@CeO2 nanocomposite onto the ITO electrode. The PANI@CeO2/ITO showed enhanced electrochemical behavior as compared to PANI/ITO. Detection of E2 was carried out using the differential pulse voltametric technique (DPV). Linearity has been observed through the detection range of 1 µM–100 µM with LOD = 2.15 µM. The developed biosensor has been found to be stable and selective towards E2. It has been successfully utilized for the detection of E2 in real samples like tap water and human urine samples. Thus, this research encourages its use for more applications in clinical diagnosis and biomedical sciences.