Aqueous Two-Phase Flotation Combined with Gold Nanoparticle Colorimetry for Determination of Thiocyanate in Raw Milk

Thiocyanates are effective in inhibiting the growth of microorganisms in raw milk to extend shelf life, but excessive addition can cause human health problems. Currently, ion chromatography and spectrophotometry are the main methods used in industry to determine SCN, but the pre-treatment process is cumbersome and time-consuming and has low sensitivity. Aqueous two-phase flotation (ATPF) technology has the advantages of simplicity, rapidity and economy. In this study, an acetonitrile/ammonium sulfate ATPF–gold nanoparticle (AuNP) colorimetric method was developed for the determination of SCN− in raw milk, and ATPF was used to separate and concentrate SCN− in raw milk to improve the detection sensitivity under convenient and economical conditions. The separation conditions were optimized by single-factor experiments and RSM, while the detection conditions, effects of CTAB concentration, pH and reaction time, were investigated. The “aggregation–anti-aggregation” mechanism of the gold-nano colorimetric method for the determination of SCN− was investigated by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Under the optimal separation and detection conditions, the SCN− concentration showed a linear relationship with A630/A520 values in the concentration range of 0–2.5 mg/L with R2 of 0.9933, limit of detection (LOD) of 0.0919 mg/L, limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 0.306 mg/L, intra-day precision of 5.3% and spiked recoveries of 80.91–101.25%. In addition, the ATPF-AuNP colorimetric method demonstrated high selectivity and stability.