مشخصات پژوهش

Nitrite is a well-known preservative to cure meat in the food industry. It inhibits the growth of several undesirable bacteria; however, nitrite may convert to carcinogenic nitrosamines when it reacts with secondary amine in acidic conditions. The long-term consumption of foods containing nitrite is associated with some cancer health risks. In this context, there is a growing demand to establish a reliable, simple, stable, and highly sensitive method for the determination of nitrite in food. Amount the various sensors for nitrate measurement, electrochemical methods are very interesting because of miniaturization ability, low costs, high sensitivity, outstanding reproducibility and fastness. However, a major obstacle encountered with determination of nitrite is high value of overpotential on the conventional solid electrodes during the oxidation as well as low sensitivity. By using different modifiers on the electrode surface, the electrochemical oxidation performance of nitrite can be improved. In this study, nickel oxide and reduced graphene oxide will be controllably deposited on the surface of pencil lead electrodes. The prepared nanocomposite integrating the large surface area and remarkable electrical properties of reduced graphene oxide and good catalytic activity of NiO which enhances the electrochemical signal toward the electro-oxidation of nitrite.