Colorimetric sensing of cephradine through polypropylene glycol functionalized gold nanoparticles

Development of metal nanoparticle based facile colorimetric assays for drugs and insecticides is an emerging area of scientific research. In the present work, polypropylene glycol (PPG) were utilized for stabilization of AuNPs (Gold nanoparticles) by using simple one-pot two-phase process and subsequently employed for the specific detection of Cephradine (CPH). The characterization of the prepared PPG-AuNPs was conducted through various analytical techniques such as UV-visible, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) Spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), zeta potential and zetasizer. As the major target of the study, the stabilized PPG-AuNPs were employed for colorimetric detection of CPH and other drugs. Typical wine red color of PPG-AuNPs disappeared immediately and SPR band quenched by addition of CPH in presence of several other interferents (drugs and salts) and in real samples. PPG-AuNPs permitted efficient, selective, quantitative and rapid recognition in a concentration range of 0.01-120 mM with a detection limit of 10.98 mM. The developed sensor has the potential to be used for quick scanning of pharmaceutical formulations for quantification of CPH at production facilities.