arabic gum and polyvinyl alcohol composite decorated by quercetin nanoparticles as a fluorimetric film shape sensor for meropenem determination

Meropenem (mpn), chemically (4r,5s,6s)-3- [[(3s,5s)-5-dimethylcarbamoyl pyrrolidin-3-yl]- thio]-6-[(1r)-1-hydroxyethyl]-4-methyl-7-oxo-1- azabicyclo [3,2,0] hept-2-ene-2-carboxylic acid, with molecular formula (c17h25n3o5s1) is a beta-lactam antibiotic belonging to the carbapenem group that has a very antimicrobial effect against a wide range of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to other beta-lactam antibiotics. meropenem is effective in treating a large number of infections such as urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections, intra-abdominal infections and hospital bacterial infections. however, its excessive consumption leads to vomiting, nausea and headache [1-2-3]. meropenem, like all beta-lactam antibiotics, binds to penicillin-binding proteins and inactivates them, inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis, thereby killing bacteria. this antibiotic has a very good penetration on most tissues and body fluids, such as lung tissue and the central nervous system [4]. in this research work, a new method was developed for the synthesis of arabic gum and polyvinyl alcohol composite decorated by quercetin nanoparticles as a fluorimetric film shape sensor to measure meropenem. in order to embed quercetin nanoparticles in the polymer composite substrate, quercetin nanoparticles were first synthesized and then added to the prepared composite solution under optimal conditions. the developed film sensor was placed in a holder made with 3d printer technology. the characteristics of arabic gum and polyvinyl alcohol composite and arabic gum and polyvinyl alcohol composite decorated by quercetin nanoparticles films, before and after of the addition of meropenem was studied by tem, ft-ir and edax-mapping. the fluorescence spectra showed that the maximum fluorescence intensity of arabic gum and polyvinyl alcohol composite decorated by quercetin nanoparticles was at λem=540 nm at λex=380 nm. after adding meropenem to the sensor, the fluorescence intensity increased at the mentioned wavelengths. the meropenem solution with a certain concentration and volume was added on the film surface by microsampler. finally, the difference in the fluorescence intensity of the fabricated film before and after the addition of meropenem was considered as an analytical signal for meropenem determination. the effect of different parameters on the fabrication of film-shaped fluorimetric sensors such as the concentration of polymer solutions, the volume of quercetin nanoparticles and the volume of glycerol were investigated. factors affecting the measurement of meropenem such as ph, type and volume of buffer, volume of meropenem solution added on the sensor and time were also investigated. under the obtained optimum conditions, the calibration graph was linear in the concentration range of 50-800 ng ml-1 with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9976 and the detection limit was 42.6 ng ml-1. the relative standard deviation for eight replicate measurements of 100 and 400 ng ml-1 of meropenem was 3.53 and 1.42 %, respectively. the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of meropenem in human urine, blood serum and pharmaceutical samples.