Electrochemical determination of tartrazine using a molecularly imprinted polymer – multiwalled carbon nanotubes - ionic liquid supported Pt nanoparticles composite film coated electrode

A novel tartrazine imprinted polymer – multiwalled carbon nanotubes - ionic liquid supported Pt nanoparticles composite film coated glassy carbon electrode (MIP–MWNTs-IL@PtNPs/GCE) was presented. It was fabricated by coating a GCE with MWNTs-IL@PtNPs mixture, followed by MIP suspension. The IL functionalized MWNTs was prepared by Click chemistry, and Pt nanoparticles were then loaded on it using ethylene glycol as reducing agent. The MIP was prepared by typical free radical polymerization using 4-vinylpyridine as functional monomer. The resulting MIP–MWNTs-IL@PtNPs/GCE showed good analytical performance when it was used for the electrochemical determination of tartrazine. Under the optimized conditions, the peak current was linear to tartrazine concentration in the ranges of 0.03 – 5.0   μM and 5.0 – 20   μM with sensitivities of 0.72   μA/μM mm 2 and 0.24   μA/μM mm 2 , respectively; the detection limit was 8   nM (S/N   =   3). The sensor was successfully applied to the determination of tartrazine in practical samples and the recovery for the standards added was 88 – 108%.