Multidimensional nanoarchitectures of TiO2/Au nanofibers with O-doped C3N4 nanosheets for electrochemical detection of nitrofurazone

The electrochemical sensor has high promise for applications in the next-generation real-time monitoring devices and technologies. However, the related further development has been hindered by some intractable problems of the electrochemical sensors. In this work, we develop the nanocomposite of TiO2/Au nanofibers (NFs) with OC3N4 nanosheets (NSs) by a solvothermal approach for the electrochemical detection of nitrofurazone (NFZ), an antimicrobial drug. The physicochemical characteristics of TiO2/Au-NFs/O-C3N4 nanocomposite is fully analyzed by diverse electron microscopic, spectroscopic and electroanalytical techniques. It is noted that the electrochemical response of TiO2/Au-NFs/O-C3N4 modified electrode is dramatically higher than unmodified and other modified electrodes. The TiO2/Au-NFs/O-C3N4 nanocomposite-based electrochemical sensor owns the superior performance for the NFZ detection, such as a wide working range of 0.008-105 mu M, a limit of detection of 0.001 mu M and high sensitivity of 1.40 mu A mu M-1 cm-2. Besides, it displays attractive features in terms of high selectivity, good steady-state stability (90 %), high cycle stability (94.8 %), fine repeatability (2.16 %) and reproducibility (1.34 %). The fabricated electrochemical sensor is also investigated to monitor the quantity of NFZ level in the real samples with the satisfactory results.

Automated summary

In this study, an electrochemical sensor for the detection of the antimicrobial drug nitrofurazone (NFZ) was developed using a nanocomposite material TiO2/Au-NFs/O-C3N4. The sensor showed high sensitivity, wide working range, good stability, and selectivity. It successfully monitored the quantity of NFZ in real samples.