Electrochemical Detection of Imidacloprid Using Cu–rGO Composite Nanofibers Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

The fabrication of electrochemical sensor for the ultra-low-level detection and quantification of Imidacloprid (IMD) in soil is one of the major challenges in real-time analysis. Herein, a three-electrode system for sensing IMD at low levels has been developed using Cu–rGO nanofiber composite modified glassy carbon working electrode, Ag/AgCl reference and platinum wire counter electrodes. In the presence of IMD, a significant enhancement in voltammetric current responses were observed at 0.506, 0.375 and 0.181 V due to NO3-:N2,NO3:NO2-,NO3-:NH4\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\mathrm{N}\mathrm{O}}_{3}^{-}{:}{\mathrm{N}}_{2}, {\mathrm{N}\mathrm{O}}_{3}{:}{\mathrm{N}\mathrm{O}}_{2}^{-}, {\mathrm{N}\mathrm{O}}_{3}^{-}{:} {\mathrm{N}\mathrm{H}}_{4}$$\end{document} redox complexes. The developed sensor exhibited sensitivity of 0.325 µA µM−1 with the limit of detection, quantification and repeatability of 2.511 nM, 7.533 nM and 0.28 RSD% respectively. The fabricated sensor could detect IMD with swift response time of less than 5 s. Further, the fabricated electrode was successfully employed to quantify the levels of IMD in soil samples and the results are reported.