| Summary: | Vanillin (VN) is a flavouring substance commonly used in the food and pharmaceutical industry. The rampant use of VN has significant implications on human health. In this work, a sensitive and selective voltammetric sensor to detect VN in food essences and natural vanilla beans was elucidated using a poly(methyl orange) modified graphene paste electrode (PMOMGPE). The surface morphology of PMOMGPE and a bare graphene paste electrode (BGPE) was compared using field emission - scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and electron transfer kinetics were analysed by Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The electrochemical activities of PMOMGPE and BGPE were assessed using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in 0.2 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS) of an optimum pH of 6.5 with an accumulation time of 20 s in a potential window of 0.2 V–1 V. Superior electrocatalytic activity was observed by PMOMGPE for the oxidation of VN, which is attributed to the high surface area and interactions between the polymer film and analyte. The VN sensor exhibited a low detection limit of 7.35 × 10−8 M by the DPV method and 20.19 × 10−8 M by the CV method. Various parameters like heterogeneous rate constant (ko = 1.7 × 10−5 cm s−1), number of electrons transferred (n = 2), and surface concentration (Γ = 0.8 nmol cm−2) were calculated. The selectivity of the prepared sensor for VN detection in the presence of common interferents such as metal ions and organic species was noteworthy. PMOMGPE was reliably used for the simultaneous analysis of VN along with indigo carmine (IC) and tartrazine (TZ). This facile VN sensor can be effectively used for real sample analysis, due to its simplicity and stability.
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