Colorimetric Detection of Sulfite in Foods by a TMB-O2-Co3O4 Nanoparticles Detection System

In this paper, we first discovered that Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) possess intrinsic oxidase-like activity and can catalytically oxidize peroxidase substrates, such as 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) and 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), to form colored products, in the absence of exogenously added H2O2. The presence of sulfite inhibited the TMB-O2-Co3O4 NPs reaction system and caused a change in color of the reaction system. On the basis of this phenomenon, a colormetric approach to detect sulfite was established with a good linear relationship ranging from 0.2×10(-6) to 1.6×10(-5) M and a detection limit of 5.3×10(-8) M. The method was used to detect sulfite in foods. Good recoveries ranging from 93.8% to 100.5% were obtained. Furthermore, the mechanism was studied and results showed that the oxidase-like activity of the Co3O4 NPs was not from •OH or O2•- radical generated. It may probably originate from their ability to transfer an electron between the peroxidase substrate and oxygen absorbed on the surface of the Co3O4 NPs.