Carbon black-modified carbon ceramic electrode – Its fabrication, characterization, and electroanalytical performance

In this work, a carbon ceramic electrode (CCE) bulk-modified with 13 wt% carbon black (CB) was developed for the first time. The prepared CB-CCE was characterized using various techniques including scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The properties of CB-CCE were compared to an unmodified carbon ceramic electrode (CCE). The results indicated that the incorporation of CB into CCE slightly influenced the morphology and surface chemistry of the ceramic composite, however, significantly improved electrochemical properties of CCE towards a ferro/ferricyanide redox marker were observed. Moreover, the long lifetime of the CB-CCE, i.e., at least two months, was confirmed. Besides, the developed CB-CCE was successfully applied for square-wave voltammetric (SWV) determination of syringic acid (SA) as a selected phenolic compound. The SWV procedure combined with CB-CCE was characterized by higher sensitivity (1.11 μA L μmol−1), wider linear range (0.5–16.0 μmol L−1), and lower limit of detection (0.15 μmol L−1) when compared to the procedure performed using the unmodified electrode. In addition, the CB-CCE was successfully used to quantify SA in a red wine.