Synthesis of Thioglycolic Acid-Modified Molybdenum Disulfide Nanosheets for Electrochemical Sensing and Its Application in Molnupiravir Detection

In the modern world, population growth, industrialization, and lifestyle changes have led to a rise in existing and new diseases, increasing global drug consumption. Proper pharmaceutical dosage is vital since drugs are only effective within specific concentration ranges. Therefore, developing reliable analytical methods for drug analysis in pharmaceuticals and biological samples is essential. Electroanalytical methods are particularly advantageous due to their low cost, ease of use, and rapid response. This study introduces a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor based on thioglycolic acid (TA)-decorated metallic phase molybdenum disulfide (MP-MoS2) nanosheets for the selective detection of molnupiravir (MOL), an antiviral drug used in Covid-19 treatment. The TA@MP-MoS2 nanomaterial was characterized using FTIR, TEM, and EIS. Screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) were modified with TA@MP-MoS2 nanosheets to evaluate their electro-chemical and catalytic behaviours towards MOL by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The sensor displayed a well-defined electro-oxidation signal for MOL at 0.534 V, with the linear responses in two concentration ranges: 0.50-3.40 mu M and 3.40-9.55 mu M, and a low detection limit of 22.6 nM. The proposed design that has promising results could be an alternative strategy to fabricate the sensitive sensor for the detection of antiviral agents in real samples.