Determination of salbutamol using R-phycoerythrin immobilized on eggshell membrane surface as a fluorescence probe

A fluorescence sensor was fabricated using R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) immobilized on eggshell membrane as the fluorescence probe, and salbutamol was determined based on the decrease in fluorescence intensity of R-phycoerythrin. The scanning electron and fluorescence micrographs showed the microstructure of the eggshell membrane and indicated that the R-PE was successfully immobilized on the eggshell membrane surface. The effects of some experimental parameters on the response of the biosensor were investigated in detail. The fluorescence sensor has a linear response to salbutamol concentrations ranging from 5.00 to 100 ng mL⁻¹. The detection limit for the salbutamol is 3.50 ng mL⁻¹ (S/N = 3). The reproducibility of fabricating the biosensors using six different membranes was good with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 3.28%. The fluorescence sensor showed extremely good stability with a shelf life of at least 50 days and reversible response to salbutamol. Some common potential interferents showed little effect on the response of the salbutamol fluorescence sensor. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the salbutamol in urine samples.