Electrochemical Detection of Eugenol (EU) Using Polyacrylonitrile Molecular Imprinted Polymer Embedded Graphite (PAN-MIP/G) Electrode

In this paper, development of a polyacrylonitrile molecularly imprinted polymer embedded graphite (PAN-MIP/G) electrode is described and its use as a sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor for determination of Eugenol (EU) in various food ingredients. The pure polyacrylonitrile is found to be the most efficient polymer material in comparison with other compositions involving acrylo-acid, acrylamide, acrylate esters and their mixtures. The PAN-MIP/G electrode shows three different linear determination ranges: 0.0005-1.0 mu, 1-50 mu and 50-160 mu with lowest detection limit of 0.0004 mu M. PAN-MIP/G is characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. The effect of variables such as electrolytes, pH and scan rate are optimized to get highest sensitivity. The PAN-MIP/G electrode shows good repeatability, reproducibility and excellent sensitivity towards EU. The effects of common interferences on the EU peak current are studied. Furthermore, the developed electrode is successfully applied for the determination of EU in curry powder, clove powder and capsule samples.