Fast on-Site and Highly Sensitive Determination of Allura Red Using a Portable Electrochemical Platform Based on Poly(pyrrole) and Bimetallic Nanocomposites Anchored on Reduced Graphene Oxide

Abstract

Allura red (AR) is classified as an azo dye and is often used as a beverage and food additive. Nevertheless, the need for dose management of Allura red becomes especially important owing to the potential damage caused by the azo structure to the human body and the environment. In order to combat these problems, a novel portable electrochemical platform using a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) that has been modified with poly(pyrrole) and Co-Ni bimetallic nanocomposites anchored on reduced graphene oxide (Co-Ni@rGO) was developed. The purpose of this platform is to enable rapid on-site and very sensitive determination of Allura red from carbonated energy beverages and water samples. Under ideal experimental conditions, the proposed platform’s response exhibits a notable linear relationship with the concentration of Allura red within the range of 0.0001–10 μM, having a very low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.03 nM and a high sensitivity of 24.62 μA μM−1 cm−2. Furthermore, the PPy/Co-Ni@rGO/SPCE platform exhibited favorable characteristics in terms of reproducibility, repeatability, stability, and selectivity for the quantification of Allura red. Consequently, the developed platform was capable of practically and effectively determining the Allura red dye content from various real samples, showing satisfactory recovery rates.