Modified stainless steel microneedle electrode for polyphenolics detection.

Abstract

This work outlines a simple fabricated microneedle electrode for sensitive and real sample monitoring of plant polyphenolics. The electrode was fabricated by layer-by-layer assembly (LBL) with nanocomposite of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) as the first layer, followed by polyaniline (PANI), and finally, the 3-(glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GOPS) layer as the binding agent. The microneedle electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The developed microneedle electrodes were successfully applied for the capacitive detection of gallic acid (GA) and chlorogenic acid (CA) as polyphenol model compounds. The microneedle electrode was also used to quantify polyphenols in orange juice. The electrochemical capacitance responses were linearly proportional to the concentrations of GA and CA in the range of 0.1-87.23μg/mL for GA and 0.1-78.01μg/mL for CA. The calculated detection limits (LOD) for GA and CA were found to be 0.29 ± 0.2μg/mL and 0.34 ± 0.2μg/mL respectively. As minimally invasive technology, microneedle electrodes were found to be promising for successful in situ screening of antioxidants in different fruit matrices. The microneedle electrodes were also applied to the depth profiling of antioxidant content in fruit samples. Graphical abstract.