Technological advancement in electrochemical biosensor based detection of Organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos in the environment: A review of status and prospects

Chlorpyrifos (CP), an organophosphate insecticide is broadly used in the agricultural and industrial sectors to control a broad-spectrum of insects of economically important crops. CP detection has been gaining prominence due to its widespread contamination in different environmental matrices, high acute toxicity, and potential to cause long-term environmental and ecological damage even at trace levels. Traditional chromatographic methods for CP detection are complex and require sample preparation and highly skilled personnel for their operation. Over the past decades, electrochemical biosensors have emerged as a promising technology for CP detection as these circumvent deficiencies associated with classical chromatographic techniques. The advantageous features such as appreciable detection limit, miniaturization, sensitivity, low-cost and onsite detection potential are the propulsive force towards sustainable growth of electrochemical biosensing platforms. Recent development in enzyme immobilization methods, novel surface modifications, nanotechnology and fabrication techniques signify a foremost possibility for the design of electrochemical biosensing platforms with improved sensitivity and selectivity. The prime objective of this review is to accentuate the recent advances in the design of biosensing platforms based on diverse biomolecules and biomimetic molecules with unique properties, which would potentially fascinate their applicability for detection of CP residues in real samples. The review also covers the sensing principle of the prime biomolecule and biomimetic molecule based electrochemical biosensors along with their analytical performance, advantages and shortcomings. Present challenges and future outlooks in the field of electrochemical biosensors based CP detection are also discussed. This deep analysis of electrochemical biosensors will provide research directions for further approaching towards commercial development of the broad range of organophosphorus compounds.