3D architectured zinc–chromium layered double hydroxide with nickel cobalt sulfide composite for the electrochemical detection of ronidazole

Abstract

Currently, the elevated usage of antibiotics in the health sector has led to genetic modification, antibiotic resistance, and other adverse effects on ecosystems. Ronidazole (RZ) is a multifunctional veterinary drug that can cause severe health and environmental problems. Hence, it is essential to monitor this drug in environmental and biological samples with high accuracy. Analogously, we fabricated a zinc–chromium-layered double hydroxide with a nickel cobalt sulfide (ZC/NCS) catalyst for the electrochemical sensing of RZ. Its structural and morphological properties were deeply examined with several spectroscopic techniques. The electrochemical properties were investigated using impedance and voltammetric methods. The electroanalytical performance of ZC/NCS was studied with different voltammetric approaches. Based on the results, our prepared ZC/NCS demonstrated a low limit of detection (1.1 nM and 2.6 nM), satisfactory linear ranges of 0.01–297 μM (at low concentration), and 297–2187 μM (at high concentration), optimal sensitivity (0.374 μA μM⁻¹ cm⁻²), and high performance. Furthermore, the designed sensor was applied to monitor RZ in environmental (river water), animal (chicken meat extract), and human (urine) samples, with remarkable recovery values (98.6–101.8%). Therefore, our prepared ZC/NCS composite is a promising electrode material for the real-time analysis of RZ.