Fabrication of tin sulfide@functionalized carbon nanofiber composites for the electrochemical detection of the oxidative stress biomarker trolox

Abstract

The detection of trolox, which is an antioxidant such as vitamin E, is essential, as its excess use causes health problems. In this work, we introduce a hydrothermal method followed by a sonochemical treatment to synthesize tin sulfide (SnS)-decorated carbon nanofiber (f-CNF) as a highly sensitive electrode material for detecting trolox. The synthesized tin sulfide-decorated carbon nanofiber (SnS@f-CNF) composite structures and their surface morphology were analyzed by spectroscopic and microscopic studies. The synergistic effect of SnS@f-CNF composites imparts a low resistance charge transfer (R_ct) of 52 Ω cm², a redox potential (E_pc) of 0.174 V for oxidation and 0.124 V for reduction vs. Ag/AgCl and a good response range of 0.5–26 μM with a lower limit of detection of 0.02 μM towards the detection of trolox. Enhanced active surface area, decreased charge recombination, and high analyte adsorption contribute to the high loading of biomarkers for excellent selectivity (by adding 8 interfering substances), stability (40 cycles), and repeated measurements. The proposed novel sensor was successfully used for the real-time analysis of trolox in food with good recovery values, illustrating the experiment's safety and reliability.