Gold nanoparticle-based amperometric sensors integrating a gel polymer membrane electrolyte for the headspace determination of ethanethiol in wines

Abstract

The evaluation of different gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) modified screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) for the determination of ethanethiol in wine is presented in this work. Two procedures, electrochemical and spark discharge modification, have been tested for depositing AuNPs onto the working electrode surface. A gel polymer membrane, based on the mixture of 1-n‑butyl‑3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIM-PF6) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) in dimethyl sulfoxide, has been incorporated as a supporting electrolyte for the amperometric determination of the analyte in the gas phase. The developed sensors demonstrated high selectivity and sensitivity, having a detection capability of 80 μg/L (α = β = 0.05). They also exhibited a high degree of precision, with reproducibility values ranging from 0.3 to 7.6%. The different AuNP/SPCEs integrating a gel polymer membrane electrolyte have been successfully applied to the headspace amperometric determination of ethanethiol in various wine samples.