Electrochemical study of Aloe-emodin on an ionic liquid-type carbon paste electrode

An ionic liquid-type carbon paste electrode (CPIE) was fabricated from 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate mixed with paraffin oil as the binder. The electrochemistry of Aloe-emodin (AE) at the electrode was investigated at pH 1.0 by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. The ionic liquid as a binder distinctly enhances the electron transfer rate between AE and the electrode. A redox mechanism is discussed. The CPIE showed good sensitivity, selectivity and stability, and was applied to determine the concentration of AE. Under the optimal conditions, the oxidative peak current increased linearly with the concentration of AE in the range from 10 nM to 12.4 µM, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9973. The detection limit is 3.0 nM (at S/N = 3).