Electrochemical determination of fenuron herbicide in water environmental samples by electro-reduced graphene oxide sensor

Abstract

Abstract Fenuron (FEN) is a herbicide that acts as a weed growing inhibitor in crops. Due to its persistence and good solubility in water, its presence in water bodies is emerging as a concern for aquatic species. Herein, we propose a simple development of an electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sensor for the monitoring of FEN in water samples. The electrochemical determination of FEN showed the best performance in a 0.1 mol L− 1 NaCl solution (pH = 2.5). Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was performed using optimal parameters and resulted in two linear ranges (0.4–12 µmol L− 1 and 20 to 50 µmol L− 1) with high sensitivities of 6.83 and 1.9 µA µmol− 1 L, respectively, and a low LD of 0.34 µmol L− 1. Stability, reproducibility, and interference tests showed that rGO is sufficiently reliable to be used as a sensor of FEN in real samples. Spiked tap and canal water samples returned recoveries close to 100%, exhibiting no statistically significant difference when compared to a UV-Vis method by an average paired t-test, attesting the viability of the rGO modified electrode as a promising sensor of FEN in environmental water samples.