Determination of selenium in food and environmental samples using a gold nanocages/fluorinated graphene nanocomposite modified electrode

Selenium is one of the most attractive nutrient elements for antioxidant, anticancer and immunomodulatory effects, which is obtained from the agricultural food and environment. Herein, a gold nanocages/fluorinated graphene (AuNCs/FG) nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was fabricated for the electrochemical determination of selenium by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry. Under the optimal parameters, a wide linear relationship between peak current of selenium on AuNCs/FG/GCE and selenium concentration was observed between 0.002−5.0 mg/L. The method exhibited a low detection limit of 0.27 μg/L. The proposed method was applied successfully for the determination of selenium in agricultural food (tea, rapeseed sprouts, peanut) and environmental (tap water and lake water) samples. The results showed that the average levels of selenium were 0.04−0.27 mg/kg and not detectable, in agricultural food and water, respectively. Therefore, this method has great potential for the monitor of selenium in food and environmental samples.