A novel low-dimensional heteroatom doped Nd2O3 nanostructure for enhanced electrochemical sensing of carbendazim

Abstract

Reasonable design and synthesis of high-efficiency nanocatalysts are of great significance for the electrocatalytic analysis of fungicides. In this paper, La-doped Nd₂O₃ (La-Nd₂O₃) nanomaterials are synthesized by a hydrothermal method and characterized via SEM, TEM, EDS, XPS and XRD. The results confirm that the trigonal Nd₂O₃ and La-Nd₂O₃ are successfully synthesized, and La is localized on the surface of the Nd₂O₃ lattice. Compared with Nd₂O₃, La-Nd₂O₃ nanomaterials have a larger surface area. In addition, the prepared Nd₂O₃ and La-Nd₂O₃ catalysts coated on a carbon paste electrode (CPE) are used as working electrodes to investigate their electrochemical performance for carbendazim (CBZ). Probably due to the synergistic electronic transfer process and dual-function effects of La-Nd₂O₃, the La-Nd₂O₃ modified electrode exhibits a stronger redox signal and faster electron transfer rate, thus resulting in superior electrocatalytic activity against CBZ. The proposed CBZ sensor produces a wide linear range of 0.08 to 50 μM and a low detection limit (0.027 μM, S/N = 3) by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Moreover, the La-doped catalyst has a long-term electrochemical activity and catalytic stability under steady state conditions, which indicates that La-Nd₂O₃ is a promising catalyst in electrocatalysis and sensing applications.