Reduced graphene oxide decorated on Cu/CuO-Ag nanocomposite as a high-performance material for the construction of a non-enzymatic sensor: Application to the determination of carbaryl and fenamiphos pesticides

Abstract A novel electrochemical sensor based on the reduced graphene oxide-Cu/CuO-Ag nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode (rGO/Cu/CuO-Ag/GCE) has been applied for the simultaneous analysis of carbaryl and fenamiphos as two important pesticides. The electrochemical behavior of carbaryl and fenamiphos at rGO/Cu/CuO-Ag/GCE was studied by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. The modified electrode exhibited two separated oxidation signals for the simultaneous determination of both carbaryl and fenamiphos with excellent sensitivity. The characteristics of the modified electrode were studied with transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy techniques. Under optimized conditions, the rGO/Cu/CuO-Ag/GCE detected carbaryl and fenamiphos with the wide linear ranges of 0.05–20 and 0.01–30 μM, and the detection limits were 0.005 and 0.003 μM, respectively. This developed electrochemical platform applied as a simple and cost-effective sensor for the detection of low levels of carbaryl and fenamiphos in fruit and vegetable samples successfully.