Simple high-temperature annealing affords commercial carbon cloth with enhanced electrochemical performance for highly sensitive detection of imidacloprid

Imidacloprid (IDP) residue in modern agricultural production seriously endangers human health and environ-mental safety. The establishment of a rapid and efficient method for the detection of IDP residue can effectively prevent its harm to human health. Herein, we demonstrate the carbon cloth (CC) prepared by a high-temperature annealing strategy possesses enhanced electrochemical performance, which could be directly used in electro-chemical IDP sensing. Annealed carbon cloth (ACC) is endowed with higher defects, rougher surfaces, more functional groups, more hydrophilic surface, and increased ion-accessible surface area. Furthermore, the ACC electrode shows superior electrocatalytic reduction activity towards IDP, possessing a wide linear range of 5-100 mu M, a low detection limit of 0.04 mu M, and high sensitivity of 35.58 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2). Meanwhile, this sensor can be applied for sensing IDP in grapes and apples with a good recovery of 96.8-104.1%. Compared with other modified electrodes, the ACC electrode has the advantages of no binder, no complicated modification, excellent detection effect, low cost, and easy large-scale production. Consequently, this work designs a self-supporting metal-free electrode with high electrochemical performance, providing a new idea for the development of environmentally friendly IDP sensors.

Automated summary

The research demonstrates that carbon cloth prepared by high-temperature annealing strategy possesses enhanced electrochemical performance for the detection of imidacloprid residue. The annealed carbon cloth electrode shows superior electrocatalytic reduction activity, wide linear range, low detection limit, and high sensitivity. It can be applied for sensing imidacloprid in fruits with good recovery.