Simultaneous Electrochemical Determination of Caffeine and Vanillin by Using Poly(Alizarin Red S) Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

Abstract

Poly(alizarin red S) conducting polymer was prepared on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surfaces, and the functionalized electrode was used for the simultaneous determination of caffeine (CAF) and vanillin (VAN). The peak potential separation for caffeine and vanillin was about 600 mV in 0.1 M acetate buffer solution (pH 4.0). The peak currents for the oxidation of both CAF and VAN are increased at poly(alizarin red S) (poly(ARS)) functionalized electrode, which makes it suitable for simultaneous detection of these compounds. The square wave voltanmmetry peak current of VAN was linear with the concentration of VAN from 0.5 to 250 mu M in the presence of 250 mu M CAF. The detection limit of VAN was found to be 0.06 mu M in the presence of CAF. At the same time, the peak current of CAF was linear with the concentration of CAF from 10 to 450 mu M with a detection limit of 0.8 mu M (S/N = 3) in the presence of 30 mu M VAN. The poly(ARS) functionalized GCE has good reproducibility and high stability. In addition, the proposed method was successfully applied to determine CAF and VAN in energy drink and vanilla sugar samples with good results.