Development of a novel carbon paste sensor for determination of micromolar amounts of sulfaquinoxaline in pharmaceutical and biological samples.

A potentiometric carbon paste sensor was fabricated for determination of sulfaquinoxaline (SQX) based on the use of ion-association complex of sulfaquinoxaline sodium with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride. The proposed sensor exhibited Nernstian slope of 58.4 ± 0.3 mV per decade for sulfaquinoxaline over a wide concentration range of 5.0 × 10(-6) to 1.0 × 10(-2)M, with a low detection limit of 3.0 × 10(-6)M. The sensor manifested advantages of fast response time, satisfactory reproducibility, long life time, high thermal stability and, most importantly, excellent selectivities for sulfaquinoxaline relative to a wide variety of common foreign inorganic cations, anions, sugars and amino acids. The sensor was successfully used for determination of sulfaquinoxaline in pharmaceutical solution, blood serum, urine and milk samples. The isothermal coefficient of the electrode was calculated by the investigation of temperature effects on the electrode potential response.