Vertically-ordered mesoporous silica films on graphene for anti-fouling electrochemical detection of tert-butylhydroquinone in cosmetics and edible oils

Abstract This work demonstrates the electrochemical preparation of graphene on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for stable growth of vertically-ordered mesoporous silica films (VMSF) by using electrochemically assisted self-assembly (EASA) method and investigates its anti-fouling electrochemical detection performance of tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) in real toning lotion and edible oil samples. Electrochemical reduction of graphene (ErGO) involves in two steps, namely, graphene oxide (GO) being first dropped onto the GCE surface and then being underwent electrochemical reduction by potentiostatic method. In comparison with the bare GCE, oxygen-containing groups and two-dimensional planar structure of ErGO render the more suitable microenvironment for the stable growth of VMSF. Owing to the signal amplification effect of highly electroactive ErGO and preconcentrated capacity of VMSF, the obtained VMSF/ErGO/GCE presents an excellent analytical sensitivity (26.17 μA/μM), a relatively low limit of detection (0.23 nM) and a rather wide linear range (1 nM–120 μM) toward TBHQ. The proposed approach is green and can be successfully applied to sensitively determine TBHQ in toning lotion and edible oil samples with good anti-fouling ability and long-term stability.