Hydrothermal synthesis of ZnCr-LDH/Tungsten carbide composite A disposable electrochemical strip for mesalazine analysis

The development of novel electrocatalyst materials with excellent characteristics is inevitably needed to satisfy the practical application of electrochemical sensors. In this study, the 2D ZnCr layered double hydroxide (LDH)/ tungsten carbide (WC) composite was prepared by the hydrothermal method and investigated as the electro-chemical electrode material for mesalazine (MSZ) detection. The ZnCr-LDH/WC modified electrode has superior electrocatalytic activity towards the MSZ detection compared to the reported modified and unmodified elec-trodes. The combination of ZnCr-LDH and WC constitutes a 2D/2D composite, which exhibits high electrical conductivity, a large specific surface area, and rapid electron transfer, thus guaranteeing efficient electrocatalytic performance. The ZnCr-LDH/WC modified electrode exhibits a wide working range (0.03-254 mu M), low limit of detection (6.0 nM), high sensitivity (4.085 mu A mu M-1 cm(-2)), excellent selectivity, and good reproducibility to-wards the detection of MSZ. The fabricated electrochemical sensor has been successfully applied to determine the contents of MSZ in human-urine and river-water samples. The presented strategy will pave the way for devel-oping 2D/2D composite for electrochemical applications.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel electrochemical electrode material based on a 2D ZnCr layered double hydroxide (LDH)/ tungsten carbide (WC) composite was prepared and investigated for the detection of mesalazine (MSZ). The ZnCr-LDH/WC modified electrode exhibited superior electrocatalytic activity and excellent performance for MSZ detection in human urine and river water samples.