Development of electroanalytical methods for detection/discrimination of drugs of abuse, its adulterants and explosives in forensic samples

Abstract

Electrochemical techniques have been received increasing attention in the forensic field and for monitoring different chemical species. Hence, this research project focused on developing analytical methods for the quantification/discrimination of abuse drugs in biological fluids, specifically in urine using chemically modified electrodes and techniques of paper chromatography with electrochemical detection. The process of discrimination is performed using voltammetric electronic tongues, that is, a set of non-specific voltammetric sensors with low selectivity but high sensitivity associated with unsupervised pattern recognition methods to process the information for the discrimination. The development of these devices can result in greater flexibility in the process of discrimination of the doping process. Nowadays, this control requires several preparation steps and requiring large time between the analysis sample and the solution of the case. Additionally, these techniques require well-trained and expensive equipment. For this reason, it is interesting to develop new rapid analytical methods, which provide accurate and analysis "in situ" of these biological matrices, such as urine. (AU)