Trimetallic metal-organic frameworks (Fe, Co, Ni-MOF) derived as efficient electrochemical determination for ultra-micro imidacloprid in vegetables

Abstract

Abstract The excessive use of imidacloprid in agricultural production leads to a large number of residues that seriously threaten human health. Therefore, the detection of imidacloprid has become very important. But how to quantitatively detect imidacloprid at ultra-low levels is the main challenges. In this work, trimetallic metal-organic frameworks Fe, Co, Ni-MOF (FCN-MOF) is in situ prepared on nickel foam (NF) and then used to make an electrochemical sensor in the detection of imidacloprid. FCN-MOF exhibits the characteristics of ultra-micro concentration detection for imidacloprid with high specific surface area and rich active metal centers. The high conductivity and 3D skeleton structure of the NF electrode enhance the contact site with imidacloprid and promote the transmission of electrons efficiently. All results show that the prepared electrochemical sensor has the advantages of ultra-low detection limits (0.1 pM), wide linear detection ranges (1–5 × 107 pM) and good sensitivity (132.91 μA pM‒1 cm‒2), as well as good reproducibility, excellent anti-interference ability, and fantastic stability. Meanwhile, the electrochemical sensor is used to determine imidacloprid in lettuce, tomato, and cucumber samples with excellent recovery (90%–102.7%). The novel electrochemical sensor is successfully applied to the ultra-micro detection of imidacloprid in vegetables, which provides a new way for the efficient monitoring of imidacloprid in agriculture.