Elaeagnus angustifolia L. Gum/Weak Acid as Encapsulating/Etching Combo to Make Parted ZIF-67(Co)/Polysaccharide-Derived Electrocatalyst for Enhanced Acetaminophen Detection

Development of polysaccharide biomass for efficient electrocatalytic sensing applications is important for its natural resource utilization and detection application. Elaeagnus angustifolia L. gum is chosen as an electron-rich macromolecule of polysaccharide as the encapsulating agent to surround etched parted ZIF-67(Co) particles. The three electron-rich molecules trithiocyanuric acid, urea, and sodium hypophosphite are selected as the weak acid etching agents, which could etch ZIF-67(Co) microcubes. This fragmentation of ZIF-67(Co) is attributed to the electron-rich molecules disrupting the internal coordination bonds of ZIF-67(Co), thus producing fragmented particles with increased exposed active electrocatalytic spots. Further carbonization of the mixture is processed to obtain the electrocatalyst ZIF-67(Co)-NPS-doped biomass carbon (ZNBC). The ZNBC/GCE sensor shows a significant improvement in electrochemical performance with a linear range of 0.5 to 100 μM, a sensitivity of 10.04 μA μM–1 cm–2, a limit of detection of 0.052 μM, and good selectivity. The ZNBC/GCE sensor was also used in rapid and accurate electrochemical sensing of APAP in urine, lake water, and pharmaceutical capsule preparation samples with good recoveries. This electron-rich macromolecule/molecule as an encapsulating/etching combo strategy provides insight into the usage of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. gum and top-down design of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for potential applications in electrocatalyst design.