Electrochemical determination of amaranth in food samples using activated carbon-Co3O4 modified electrode

In this paper, a new electrochemical sensor was reported for the determination of amaranth in drink soft. In this sensor, activated carbon-Co3O4 nanocomposite (AC-Co3O4) was employ­ed as electrode modifying materials. The introduction of high pores to the activated carbon not only can in favor of more amaranth molecules adsorbed to the surface of the working electrode through the pores, but also may benefit fast electron diffusion in the electro­chemical detection process. So, the AC-Co3O4 modified electrode enhanced its electro­chemical signal obviously in the determination of amaranth  in drink soft and exhibited a wider linear response ranging from 0.1 to 215.0 µM with a low detection limit of 10.0 nM (based on 3Sb/m). This work offers a new route in developing new electro­chemical sensors for the determination of colorants additives and other hazard components in drink soft.