Effect of Sago Starch on CuO Nanorods Impregnated in the Soy Protein Matrix: A Green Approach Using the Cytosine Molecule as an Electrochemical Sensor for Pharmaceutics

Abstract

The current study describes a simple method to fabricate soy protein-based nano-biocomposites (NBCs) impregnated with sago starch-capped copper oxide nanorods (CuO NRs), for electrochemical detection of cytosine, which is useful for de novo drug formulations in pharmaceutics. The physicochemical properties of the NBCs were studied in detail and might be useful for biomedical applications. CuO NRs of sizes of 18.1–22.7 nm were synthesized by varying the concentrations of sago starch (0.5–5 μM) and characterized using various analytical techniques. Sago starch acts as both a reducing agent and stabilizer. The NRs show better optical properties (increased band gap Eg = 3.01 eV), which could find potential applications in the photovoltaic cells. The sago-capped CuO NRs were impregnated in soy protein (1:1 ratio), and the physicochemical properties of the fabricated nanobiocomposites (NBCs) were studied. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)/thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was employed to determine the thermodynamic parameters, and the results indicate enhanced thermal stability of the NBCs. Moreover, increased water uptake of the NBCs demonstrates the biodegradability of the prepared NBCs that can find use in tissue engineering applications. This CuO-SG-SY/GCE can be used for the detection and quantification of cytosine in real-sample analysis. Thus, soy protein NBCs incorporated with sago starch-capped CuO NRs provide a simple and facile route, which is ecofriendly and cost-effective and has both industrial and pharmaceutical applications.