Rapid voltammetric determination of maltol in some foods and beverages using a poly(methylene blue)/graphene-modified glassy carbon electrode

A novel poly(methylene blue)/graphene composite glassy carbon electrode was fabricated and the electrochemical behavior of maltol at the modified electrode was studied by cyclic voltammetry. In phosphate-buffered solution, the modified electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the electrochemical oxidation of maltol. Under optimized conditions, the oxidation peak current showed a linear relationship with the concentrations of maltol in the ranges of 8.00?×?10^?7 to 4.00?×?10^?5 and 4.00?×?10^?5 to 5.40?×?10^?4 mol L^?1, with a detection limit of 6.50?×?10^?8 mol L^?1. The performance of the developed method was validated in terms of linearity (r?=?0.9981 and 0.9955), recovery (97.0?99.3 %), reproducibility (relative standard deviations?≤?3.1 %, n?=?6), and robustness. The method shows excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility and has been successfully applied to analyzing maltol in a wide variety of food products.