An electrochemical sensor for sunset yellow detection based on hollow mesoporous carbon spheres

The control and detection of sunset yellow (SY) are very important due to the high risk of harmful effects on humans caused by excessive intake. In this work, we reported the synthesis of hollow mesoporous carbon spheres (HMCS) and their application in developing a novel electrochemical sensor for SY. Initially, three hollow carbon spheres with different sizes and pore structures were synthesized by adjusting the ratio of TPOS and TEOS using the hard-templating approach. In comparison, HMCS showed the smallest diameter (290 nm), the largest surface area (2229.1 m2g−1), and a high content of mesoporous structure. This provides a structural basis for high-efficiency pre-concentration of SY on the surface of the HMCS-modified electrode, which effectively improves its electrocatalytic activity. Under optimized conditions, the HMCS/GCE sensor showed a wide linear range varying from 0.0015 − 4 µM, with an ultralow LOD (0.12 nM). Moreover, the HMCS/GCE sensor was deployed for the detection of SY with the advantages of impressive anti-interference ability, satisfactory reproducibility, good repeatability as well as long-term stability. The proposed sensor has been successfully used for the detection of SY in food samples with spiked recoveries of 91.1–103.3%, showing the promising application of the method for the detection of SY in the food matrix.