Design and fabrication of a low-cost curcumin-based paper sensor for rapid “naked-eye” cyanide sensing

Abstract

Cyanide (CN-) is a deleterious chemical and can cause serious health effects upon exposure even at low concentrations. Different sensors have been developed to monitor cyanide in water, which, however, suffers from complex mechanisms and high-cost. Curcuma longa or turmeric is a commercially available natural dye (usually in powder form) used as medicine. The phenolic substance curcumin is responsible for its yellow color and is capable of sensing environmentally significant analytes such as CN-. In this study, a colorimetric sensor for cyanide in aqueous solution was fabricated by the immobilization of crude curcumin on ordinary filter paper. The curcumin was extracted from locally available turmeric powder using a simple extraction method. Its successful integration in the filter paper was validated by FT-IR spectroscopy. UV–Vis analysis showed that the curcumin-based paper sensor was sensitive to CN- (down to 5.0 ppm), producing a visual change from yellow to dark red. The fabricated sensor also demonstrated high selectivity towards CN- in the presence of Na+, K+, and F-. Its response time was found to be inversely proportional to the concentration of the CN- in the solution. Assessment of reusability revealed that the sensor was reusable for up 8 cycles before significant changes in colorimetric response were observed. Importantly, the fabricated sensor exhibited applicability for actual cyanide monitoring in real water samples.