Real time detection of vanillin food additive using an electrochemical sensor based on MXene (Ti3C2Tx)/ZnS QDs nanocomposite

초록

Vanillin (VA) is commonly used as a flavoring agent and is also recognized for its diverse biological activities, such as antidepressant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. However, excessive intake of vanillin may adversely impact liver and kidney function, highlighting the need for simple, fast, and reliable methods for its detection. In this study, an electrochemical sensor based on Ti3C2Tx/ZnS QDs nanocomposites was developed for real-time detection of VA, a widely used food additive. The Ti3C2Tx/ZnS QDs nanocomposites were prepared via a simple hydrothermal technique and characterized using various physiochemical methods. Results obtained from XRD, Raman, HR-SEM, HR-TEM, and XPS results demonstrated that Ti3C2Tx/ZnS QDs have been formed with good crystallinity, vibrational modes, morphology, and elemental composition. Moreover, the resulting Ti3C2Tx/ZnS QDs nanocomposites exhibited excellent electrochemical properties, including enhanced surface area, high conductivity, and improved electron transfer mobility. The electrochemical characteristics of Ti3C2Tx/ZnS QDs nanocomposites are examined by decorating them over a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) conventional electrode and tested it for the detection of VA food additives. The electrochemical oxidation of VA food additive based on the Ti3C2Tx/ZnS QDs modified GCE demonstrated a wide linear range of 0.5-600 mu M, a superior sensitivity of 0.451 mu A mu M-1 cm-2 and a lower limit of detection (LOD) of 3.21 mu M. Additionally, the sensor displayed excellent stability, reproducibility, and selectivity for VA detection, even in the presence of common interfering compounds. Besides, the Ti3C2Tx/ZnS QDs modified GCE was used to detect the VA in real samples, such as ice-cream and milk tea, and the sufficient recovery results were obtained. The sample like milk tea and ice cream is analyzed as a real sample with feasible and quantification results which were compared with HPLC analysis. Thus, experimental results confirms the practical applicability of the sensor for food safety monitoring.

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