Construction of Au nanoparticles on choline chloride modified glassy carbon electrode for sensitive detection of nitrite

A promising electrochemical sensor for sensitive determination of nitrite was fabricated by construction of Au nanoparticles on the surface of choline chloride (Ch) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Field emission scanning electron microscope, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques were used for the surface characterization of the modified electrode. It was demonstrated that Ch was covalently immobilized onto the GCE surface forming a planted Ch monolayer, which could provide a suitable supporting material for the construction of Au nanoparticles. As a result, the Au nanoparticles with average size of about 110 nm were assembled to form a flowerlike structure on the surface of Ch monolayer. Moreover, the uniform nano-Au/Ch film exhibited remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of nitrite with obvious reduction of overpotential. Under the optimum conditions, the linear range for the detection of nitrite was 4.0 × 10−7 to 7.5 × 10−4 M with a high sensitivity of 0.354 μA μM−1, and a low detection limit of 1.0 × 10−7 M. The proposed method was successfully applied in the detection of nitrite in water samples and sausage samples, and the results were consistent with those obtained by ion chromatography and UV–visible spectrophotometric methods.