Sensitive determination of 4,6-dinitro-o-cresol based on a glassy carbon electrode modified with Zr-UiO-66 metal–organic framework entrapped FMWCNTs

Abstract

A DNOC electrochemical sensor has been developed by using a composite of Zr-UiO-66 and FMWCNTs on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and using the differential pulse voltammetry technique. The synthesized materials were physico-chemically characterized by BET, PXRD, FTIR, TGA, EDX, and FESEM. Cyclic voltammetry showed that DNOC has three oxidation peaks at 0.03 V (RSD: 0.23%), 0.42 V (RSD: 0.21%), and 1.32 V (RSD: 0.32%) and three reduction peaks at – 0.20 V (RSD: 0.15%), – 0.82 V (RSD: 0.26%), and – 1.14 V (RSD: 0.19%) which follow a diffusion-controlled mechanism. Different parameters were optimized using differential pulse voltammetry and good linear ranges were found for the simultaneous detection of the three reduction peaks. For a specific concentration range of 0.1–50 μM, a limit of detection of 0.119 μM based on 3Sb/m was obtained. The interfering effects of five non-phenolic pesticides and five heavy metals were evaluated to highlight the selectivity of the developed sensor. It is the first report of an electrochemical DNOC sensor in which all three oxidation peaks are prominently visible. Ethion and chloropyriphos were found to inhibit the redox process of DNOC on the developed sensor platform Zr-UiO-66/FMWCNT/GCE. The sensor was successfully applied to DNOC determination in spiked potato samples and the results showed a standard deviation of less than 3%. The proposed method is expected to provide a novel platform for the quantitative determination of DNOC pesticides in vegetables.