Additively manufactured ready-to-use platform using conductive recycled PLA for ketamine sensing.
Mikrochimica acta – January 09, 2025
Source: PubMed
Summary
Innovative 3D printing meets crime prevention in a breakthrough electrochemical sensor that detects ketamine, a dangerous date rape drug, in various beverages. Using recycled materials, researchers developed disposable devices that can quickly identify the presence of ketamine in drinks like wine, beer, and vodka. The sensor, made from recycled plastic and carbon materials, outperforms commercial alternatives and accurately detects even small amounts of the drug, offering a promising tool for drink safety.
Abstract
The use of 3D-printed electrodes is reported fabricated from in-house conductive filament composed of a mixture of recycled poly (lactic acid) (rPLA), graphite (Gpt), and carbon black (CB) for fast detection of the abused drug ketamine. Firstly, the performance of these electrodes was evaluated in comparison to 3D-printed electrodes produced employing a commercially available conductive filament. After a simple pretreatment step (mechanical polishing), the new 3D-printed electrodes presented better performance than the electrodes produced from commercial filament in relation to peak-to-peak separation of the redox probe [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- (130 mV and 759 mV, respectively), charge transfer resistance (Rct = 1.04 ± 0.05 kΩ and 9.62 ± 0.03 kΩ, respectively), and heterogeneous rate constant (k0 = 7.16 ± 0.05 × 10-3 cm s-1 and 3.57 ± 0.03 × 10-3 cm s-1, respectively). Excellent analytical characteristics for the detection of ketamine were achieved, including wide linear range (10 to 250 μmol L-1), excellent sensitivity (0.024 ± 0.001 μA μmol L-1), low limit of detection (LOD = 0.7 μmol L-1), and recovery values from 82 to 115% for beverage samples (white and red wines, beer, water, and vodka) spiked with the abused drug ketamine.