Biowaste-derived hierarchical porous carbon functionalised with chitosan for carbendazim electrochemical sensor application

This work designed a low-cost and sensitive electrochemical sensor based on chitosan (CTS)-modified peanut shell-derived porous carbon (PSPC) for the detection of carbendazim (CBZ). PSPC exhibited a unique three-dimensional interconnected porous structure. The hierarchical porous carbon architecture with high specific surface area not only enhanced the adsorption capacity of CBZ but also significantly increased the interface contact area of electrode/electrolyte. CTS was uniformly deposited on the surface of PSPC via ultrasound-assisted liquid-phase dispersion method for the preparation of the PSPC@CTS nanocomposite. Benefiting from the good biocompatibility, adsorption ability and film-forming property of CTS, the PSPC@CTS modified electrode demonstrated good CBZ enrichment ability and improved structural stability. The PSPC@CTS/GCE sensor exhibited a low detection limit of 17.41 nM (S/N = 3) within the linear CBZ concentration range of 0.01–10.0 µM. Satisfactory recoveries of 96.78 –100.42% could validate its practical application potential of the PSPC@CTS modified sensor for the CBZ detection in food samples.