Indirect electrochemical determination of antioxidant capacity with hexacyanoferrate(III) reduction using a gold nanoparticle-coated o-phenylenediamine-aniline copolymer electrode

Abstract

In spite of the many unstandardized literature methods for the determination of the antioxidant activity/capacity (AOA/AOC) of food extracts, there are a very limited number of documented voltammetric nanosensors, despite the fact that commercial electrochemical devices for rapid AOA estimation are on the rise. The mechanism of the developed sensor is based on the chemical reduction of hexacyanoferrate(III) to hexacyanoferrate(II) by antioxidants, followed by the decrement of the cathodic current intensity of hexacyanoferrate(III) in proportion to antioxidant concentration. During voltammetric measurements, the surface of the glassy carbon electrode was coated with an o-phenylenediamine-aniline copolymer and gold nanoparticles were accumulated on this electrode surface to increase the conductivity. It was shown that the developed electrode gave a reversible voltammogram for the hexacyanoferrate(III)/(II) redox couple, and that the cathodic peaks due to strong antioxidants having a standard redox potential less than that of this couple (E^o < 0.36 V) continuously emerged at very close peak potentials. Single antioxidants as well as binary–ternary mixtures were analyzed with this electrode using square wave voltammetry. The trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacities of selected antioxidants were evaluated with this electrode. The modified voltammetric sensor allowed precise measurement of the total antioxidant capacity of plant tea samples such as green tea, lime, and coral moss, and was not interfered by the food preservative sulfite. The results of the developed voltammetric sensor were statistically compared with those of a reference differential pulse voltammetry-cupric reducing antioxidant capacity electrochemical method established in literature.

Keywords:

• Antioxidant determination
• electrochemical sensor
• gold nanoparticles
• square wave voltammetry (SWV)
• total antioxidant capacity

Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to Istanbul University Research Fund (BAP) for the support given to the thesis project-20512, and also to the Food Antioxidants Research Centre of Istanbul University (I. U. Gida Antioksidanlari Uygulama ve Arastirma Merkezi) for the supply of certain antioxidant standards.