Voltammetric determination of malachite green in fish samples based on the enhancement effect of anionic surfactant

In this work, an electrochemical method for the determination of malachite green was developed on the basis of enhancement effect of an anionic surfactant: sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate. It is found that the oxidation peak current of malachite green at carbon paste electrode significantly increases in the presence of low concentration of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate in pH 6.5 phosphate buffer, suggesting that sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate shows obvious enhancement effect for the determination of malachite green. The experimental parameters, such as supporting electrolyte, kind of surfactant, concentration of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate and accumulation time, were optimized, and then a sensitive and convenient electrochemical method was proposed for the determination of malachite green. The oxidation peak current is proportional to the concentration of malachite green over the range from 8.0 × 10 −9 to 5.0 × 10 −7 mol l −1 , and the detection limit is 4.0 × 10 −9 mol l −1 after 5 min of accumulation. Finally, this new method was successfully employed to detect malachite green in fish samples.