Ionic liquid-assisted electrochemical determination of pyrimethanil using reduced graphene oxide conjugated to flower-like NiCo2O4

The novel hierarchical flower-like superstructure NiCo2O4/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hybrids have been successfully synthesized with a facile one-step hydrothermal process for the determination of fungicide pyrimethanil (PMT). For comparison, various structures of NiCo2O4/rGO including hexagonal nanoplates and nanorods were also synthesized. Among them, three-dimensional (3D) flower-like NiCo2O4/rGO exhibited the highest electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of PMT. With the synergistic effect of [OMIM]PF6 ionic liquid (IL), the electrochemical sensor film (NiCo2O4/rGO/IL) further facilitated interfacial electron transfer and enhanced electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of PMT. Under the optimum conditions, the electrochemical sensor exhibited two linear ranges of 0.1-10.0 mu mol/L and 20.0-140 mu mol/L for PMT with a low detection concentration of 11.0 nmol/L. Besides, the interference, repeatability, reproducibility and stability measurements were also evaluated. The proposed method was successfully applied to the detection of PMT in water, seawater, fruits and vegetables with good recovery ranging from 93% to 105%, and possessed potential applications in the analysis of real samples. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.