Developing a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for malathion detection based on green g-C3N4@LiCoO2 nanocomposites

Abstract

Nowadays, developing pesticide-free agriculture is highly demanded by society. The development of electrochemical sensors to monitor and control pesticides is an effective step toward this desired goal. The current research has faced this issue by modifying of glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) with green g-C₃N₄@LiCoO₂ nanocomposites to probe malathion, an organophosphate pesticide. The g-C₃N₄@LiCoO₂ modified GCE showed higher current than the net GCE, as a result of improved electrocatalytic performance of the modified GCE to oxidize malathion. Increased malathion concentration enhanced the malathion oxidation anodic peak current at +410 mV caused by the g-C₃N₄@LiCoO₂ modified GCE. The developed probe showed an excellent linear response for malathion detection in the 5–120 nM (R² = 0.994) range and recorded a limit of detection of 4.38 nM. Besides, the modified GCE reveals considerable stability and reproducibility, which offers a cost-effective, sensitive, and selective electrode for malathion probing.