Electrogenerated chemiluminescence sensor for the determination of propranolol hydrochloride

An electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) sensor for the determination of propranolol hydrochloride was fabricated by employing tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)32+) as an ECL signal producer and graphene as a modified material. The ECL sensor was fabricated by adsorbing Ru(bpy)32+ onto a mixture of graphene and Nafion. The introduction of conductive graphene into Nafion was found to greatly enhance the ECL intensity of Ru(bpy)32+ and the ECL intensity of Ru(bpy)32+ decreased in the presence of propranolol hydrochloride. Based on this phenomenon, a sensitive and stable ECL method was developed for the determination of propranolol hydrochloride by employing a Ru(bpy)32+-graphene-Nafion modified electrode. Under the optimized conditions, the ECL intensity was linear with the concentration of propranolol hydrochloride over a range of 1.0 × 10-10 to 5.0 × 10-9 mol L-1 with a detection limit of 3 × 10-11 mol L-1. The ECL sensor exhibited long-term stability with a relative standard deviation of 4.1% for sixteen continuous determinations of 2.0 × 10-9 mol L-1 propranolol hydrochloride. The developed method has been successfully applied to the determination of propranolol hydrochloride in pharmaceutical samples.