Voltammetric Determination of the Antioxidant 2,6-di-tert-butyl-p-cresol (T501) in Transformer Oil on a Graphite Electrode in a Solution of Potassium Hydroxide and Ethanol

Abstract

The electrochemical properties of 2,6-di-tert-butyl-p-cresol (T501) in transformer oil were investigated by using staircase voltammetry (SV) with analysis by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. A new method was established to determine the T501 content in transformer oil. The results showed that the oxidation current I_p (μA) exhibited a linear relationship with the concentration as the mass fraction of T501 within the concentration range from 0.05% to 0.50% under optimal conditions and that the corresponding regression relationship is C = 0.05506I_p − 0.19524 with R² equal to 0.9995. The limit of detection based upon a signal-to-noise ratio of three was 0.039%. The accuracy was the same as determined by liquid chromatography. The standard addition recovery was 99.33% to 101.67%, indicating high reliability and practicability. Considering the results obtained, the proposed novel electrochemical method is able to enhance the analytical determination of T501 in transformer oil.

Keywords:

• Antioxidant
• density functional theory
• staircase voltammetry
• transformer oil

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.