Voltammetric determination of wedelolactone, an anti-HIV herbal drug, at boron-doped diamond electrode

Boron-doped diamond electrode has been utilized for the study of electrochemical behaviour of an anti-HIV herbal drug wedelolactone in Britton-Robinson buffer (pH-2.5) by square-wave and cyclic voltammetry techniques. The response characteristics of cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry showed a remarkable increase in the anodic peak current and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed a lowering in charge transfer resistance at the boron-doped diamond electrode as compared to the glassy carbon electrode that can be attributed to the higher sensitivity of boron-doped diamond sensor. Cyclic voltammetry at the boron-doped diamond surface revealed the oxidation of wedelolactone with two oxidation peaks (P-1 and P-2) with Ep(1)= 0.4V and Ep(2)=1.00 V with scan rate varying from 10 - 220 mV/s and exhibits diffusion-controlled process. Based on the electrochemical measurements, a probable oxidation mechanism has been deduced and the electrode dynamics parameters have been evaluated. The effect of concentration on the peak currents of wedelolactone was found to have a linear relationship within the concentration range of 50-700 ng/mL. The LOD and LOQ were found to be 43.87 and 132.93 ng/mL respectively. The applicability of the proposed method was further scrutinized by the successful determination of wedelolactone in real plant samples.