Electrochemical oxidation of food dye at nanosilica modified carbon electrode

Abstract

Abstract In the present work, electrochemical oxidation study of an azo food dye, sunset yellow was investigated, and its analysis in few food samples was carried out at a very innovative nanosilica modified carbon electrode. With several astonishing characteristics such as firm adsorption, large surface area, and simple surface modification, the modifier grabbed some interest. From the experimental results, a noticeable enhancement on the oxidation current was seen at the surface of the modified sensor due to the cavity structure of the sensor and also efficient adsorption of sunset yellow. Hence, the current electrode was used as an electrochemical sensor for the cyclic voltammetric and square wave voltammetric determination of sunset yellow. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis gives the electrode surface morphological results. The effects of various experimental parameters were explored. The square wave voltammograms exhibited acceptable analytical performances in terms of linearity (0.7 x 10-7 M to 5.0 x 10-5 M) with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.0 nM. The proposed technique was specific, sensitive, and could be admissible for the detection of sunset yellow in pharmaceutical formulations, food samples, and spiked human urine.