An ultrasensitive electroanalytical sensor based on MgO/SWCNTs- 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide paste electrode for the determination of ferulic acid in the presence sulfite in food samples

•Electrochemical behavior of ferulic acid study using modified carbon paste electrode.•High sensitive sensor for analysis of ferulic acid in food samples.•Fabricated sensor resolved the overlap of ferulic acid and sulfite for the first time. This research focused on fabrication of an ultrasensitive nano-molar voltammetric sensor for the determination of ferulic acid (FA) in the presence of sulfite in food samples. For this goal, we incorporated MgO/SWCNTs nanocomposite and 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [Bmim][Tf2N] into the carbon paste matrix to yield the modified CPE (MgO/SWCNTs-[Bmim][Tf2N]-CPE) as an electroanalytical tool. The MgO/SWCNTs-[Bmim][Tf2N]-CPE produced an improved analytical oxidation signal for FA which was 3 0.17 times more than the unmodified sensors. The electrode was found to produce distinct electro-oxidation signals for FA ΔEp=300 mV in the presence of sulfite with, which proves its applicability for the determination of FA in the presence of sulfite ions commonly present in food samples (e.g. red wine). The MgO/SWCNTs-[Bmim][Tf2N]-CPE proved to be a powerful tool for the determination of FA and sulfite ions (recovery data between 97.84%-103.1%) in the respective concentration ranges of 0.009–450 µM and 0.1–450 µM with detection limit of 3.0 nM and 50 nM, respectively. In the final step, the MgO/SWCNTs-[Bmim][Tf2N]-CPE was successfully used in the determination of FA and sulfite in food samples.