Sensitive detection of butylated hydroxyanisole based on free-standing paper decorated with gold and NiO nanoparticles

Abstract

It’s significant to determine butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) in food or other products to ensure human health since BHA has been found to cause a loss of nourishment and even produce toxic effects. The development of the high-quality electrode materials with low cost, high surface area, and good conductivity is of great interest in the field of electrochemical sensing. Herein, a free-standing exfoliated graphite paper (EGP) was employed as a substrate electrode material for the electrochemical determination of BHA. With the successive modification of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and NiO nanoparticles, the constructed electrochemical sensor showed wrinkled multi-layers structure with uniform distribution of the nanoparticles. The great specific surface area of EGP not only was suitable for the load of more nanoparticles but also offered abundant pathways for fast electron diffusion. Based on the advantages of high surface area of EGP, the good conductivity of both EGP and AuNPs, and the electrocatalytic activity of NiO nanoparticles, the prepared electrochemical sensor exhibited good detected ability to BHA. Under the optimal conditions, the sensor showed a wide linear range of 3.0 × 10−8 mol/L–5.0 × 10−5 mol/L with a low limit of detection of 2.0 × 10−8 mol/L (S/N = 3) for the determination of BHA. Moreover, this disposable sensor can be used for the sensitive determination of BHA in edible oil samples. It’s obvious that the versatile EGP with the merits of low cost, easy modification, great surface area, and good conductivity, is one of the best candidates of the substrate electrode materials for the construction of other electrochemical sensors.