Determination of Clomipramine using eco-friendly solid-contact ionophore-doped potentiometric sensor

INTRODUCTION: Clomipramine is a tricyclic antidepressant acting as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Its maximum plasma concentration (C(max)) is 13–310 ng/mL, the therapeutic range is 220–500 ng/mL and its toxic effect appears in doses above 900 ng/mL. OBJECTIVES: The fabrication of eco-friendly solid-contact ion-selective electrodes to evaluate the concentration of Clomipramine in different matrices based on disposable screen-printed carbon electrode. METHODS: Disposable screen-printed carbon electrode was utilized as a substrate to fabricate the proposed sensors. The sensors were optimized to determine Clomipramine using calix[4]arene as an ionophore into PVC polymeric membrane to enhance selectivity towards the target analyte. The solid-contact sensor potential stability was improved by the incorporation of graphene nanoparticles transducer layer. RESULTS: The sensors were assessed as per the IUPAC recommendations. The linearity range was 1 × 10(− 2) to 1 × 10(− 5.3) M. The sensors were successfully applied to determine CLM in the pharmaceutical formulation. Furthermore, the ion selective electrodes were applied for Clompiramine assay in spiked plasma for the purpose of Point-of-Care testing to be a diagnostic tool for therapeutic monitoring of the cited central nervous system agent. The findings were statistically compared to the reported method showing no statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION: This work was concerned with developing a green analytical method for the determination of Clomipramine. The proposed SC-ISE was mixed with graphene nanocomposite transducer interlayer. The graphene layer succeeded in preventing the formation of an aqueous layer so resulted in a stable, reproducible standard potential besides the rapid response time. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13065-023-00938-x.