High sensitivity electrochemical detection of ultra-trace imidacloprid in fruits and vegetables using a Fe-rich FeCoNi-MOF

High sensitivity and ultra-trace detection of imidacloprid are important and challenging in the field of food. In this study, we prepared a Fe-rich FeCoNi-MOF in-situ modified nickel foam working electrode by one-step hy-drothermal method, and achieved a highly sensitive detection of the imidacloprid. The characterization tech-niques confirmed that Fe-rich FeCoNi-MOF had excellent crystallinity, tighter structure, and exposed rich active sites. The detection results showed that Fe-rich FeCoNi-MOF electrochemical sensor had a minimum detection limit of 0.04 pmol/L (100 times lower than that of the bioelectrochemical sensors), a wide response range (1 pmol/L-120 mu mol/L), and high sensitivity (124 mu A pmol/L-1 cm-2). These advantages of the electrochemical sensor were revealed theoretically by the valence change of active metal and the first principle calculation. Lastly, the Fe-rich FeCoNi-MOF electrochemical sensor was applied to detect imidacloprid in apple, fresh tea leaves, tomato, cucumber, and had an excellent recovery of 98-102.8 %.

Automated summary

In this study, a Fe-rich FeCoNi-MOF modified nickel foam working electrode was prepared and successfully used for the highly sensitive detection of imidacloprid. The Fe-rich FeCoNi-MOF electrochemical sensor exhibited excellent crystallinity, tighter structure, and abundant active sites. It achieved a minimum detection limit of 0.04 pmol/L, a wide response range of 1 pmol/L-120 μmol/L, and high sensitivity of 124 μA pmol/L-1 cm-2.