A screen-printed electrode modified with gold nanoparticles/ cellulose nanocrystals for electrochemical detection of 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diamine

Abstract

Developing simple, cost-effective, easy-to-use, and reliable analytical devices if of utmost importance for the food industry for rapid in-line checks of their products that must comply with the provisions set by the current legislation. The purpose of this study was to develop a new electrochemical sensor for the food packaging sector. More specifically, we propose a screen -printed electrode (SPE) modified with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the quantification of 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diamine (MDA), which is one of the most important PAAs that can transfer from food packaging materials into food stuffs. The electrochemical performance of the proposed sensor (AuNPs/CNCs/SPE) in the presence of 4,4'- MDA was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The modified AuNPs/CNCs/SPE showed the highest sensitivity for 4,4'-MDA detection, with a peak current of 9.81 mu A compared with 7.08 mu A for the bare SPE. The highest sensitivity for 4,4'-MDA oxidation was observed at pH = 7, whereas the detection limit was found at 57 nM and the current response of 4,4'-MDA rose linearly as its concentration increased from 0.12 mu M to 100 mu M. Experiments using real packaging materials revealed that employing nanoparticles dramatically improved both the sensitivity and the selectivity of the sensor, which can be thus considered as a new analytical tool for quick, simple, and accurate measurement of 4,4 '-MDA during converting operations.