High-performance electrochemical detection of carbendazim using NiCo2O4 nanoflower/graphene nanocomposite for food and environmental safety
摘要
The persistent use of carbendazim (CBD) in agriculture, coupled with its environmental stability, necessitates the development of rapid and sensitive detection techniques to monitor its residues in food and water systems. In this work, a spinel NiCo2O4 decorated over mechanochemically exfoliated G nanosheets nanocomposite (NiCo2O4/G) electrocatalyst was prepared using an in situ hydrothermal process. The mechanochemical exfoliation of graphene has been achieved by grinding oxalic acid (milling agent) and graphite in a ball mill, followed by thermal eradication of the milling agent. The designed NiCo2O4/G electrocatalyst modified carbon printed electrode (SPCE) deployed in square wave voltammetry (SWV) technique exhibited a broad range of CBD in pH 7 buffer (0.1 M phosphate). The obtained linear range and detection limit (LOD) for CBD signaling at NiCo2O4/G/SPCE were 0.05–120 µM and 16 nM (S/N = 3), respectively. Especially, the sensor retained a CBD signal of 99.45% in the presence of interferences. Moreover, the limit of quantification (LOQ) and sensitivity of the sensor are estimated as 0.053 µM and 0.184 µA/µM.cm2, respectively. At most, the designed CBD selective sensor has also been used to detect CBD in vegetables (soybean, lettuce, tomato) and environmental aqua regions (river, paddy, lake) at the retrieval of 97.0–99.0% and 97.4–99.2%, respectively.
Graphical Abstract