Carbon aerogel supported palladium-ruthenium nanoparticles for electrochemical sensing and catalytic reduction of food dye

Abstract A facile approach for the electrochemical determination and catalytic degradation of sunset yellow (SY) by using palladium-ruthenium nanoparticles incorporated carbon aerogel (Pd-Ru/CA) as catalyst is reported. The Pd-Ru/CA nanocomposite was prepared by sol-gel polymerization invoking the evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) method and was characterized by various techniques such as XRD, SEM/TEM, N 2 physisorption/chemisorption, thermal analysis, and Raman, XPS, and EDS spectroscopies. The Pd-Ru/CA modified screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE) was found to show excellent performances for electrochemical detection and catalytic degradation of SY, surpassing the conventional HPLC method even in real samples. Effects of key experimental parameters such as type and pH of supporting electrolyte, and dye and interference concentrations on selectivity of the sensor during electrochemical detections were thoroughly assessed by CV and DPV methods The Pd-Ru/CA modified SPCE revealed excellent limit of detection (LOD) and analytical sensitivity of 7.1 nM and 3.571 μA μM −1  cm −2 , respectively. Moreover, as verified by UV–vis spectroscopy, the Pd-Ru/CA nanocomposite exhibited an extraordinary performance for catalytic degradation of SY with a pseudo-first order rate constant ( k ) of ca. 0.295 s −1 , making the proposed nanomaterial a suitable platform for prospective photo- and electro-catalytic applications.