A novel electrochemical detection method for butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) as an antioxidant: a BHA imprinted polymer based on a nickel ferrite@graphene nanocomposite and its application

Abstract

A novel electrochemical detection method based on a nickel ferrite@graphene (NiFe₂O₄@Gr) nanocomposite-containing molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was developed for the sensitive determination of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). After successful completion of the nanocomposite production under hydrothermal conditions, the NiFe₂O₄@Gr nanocomposite and a novel molecularly imprinted sensor based on the NiFe₂O₄@Gr nanocomposite were characterized using microscopic, spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques. According to the characterization results, the synthesis of the core–shell type NiFe₂O₄@Gr nanocomposite with high purity and efficiency has been proved to be successful. After successful modification of a cleaned glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with the NiFe₂O₄@Gr nanocomposite, analytical applications were started with the prepared BHA printed GCE. This novel molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for BPA detection demonstrated a linearity of 1.0 × 10⁻¹¹–1.0 × 10⁻⁹ M and a low detection limit (LOD, 3.0 × 10⁻¹² M). In addition, the BHA imprinted polymer based on the NiFe₂O₄@Gr nanocomposite also exhibited excellent selectivity, stability, reproducibility and reusability performances in flour analysis.