Palladium-metallene and polypyrrole molecular imprinted nanotube modified electrochemical sensor for zearalenone detection

Zearalenone (ZLE) is a fungal toxin, and ingestion of ZLE–contaminated food can lead to human cytogenetic toxicity, immunotoxicity and hepatorenal toxicity. This study developed an electrochemical sensor for detection of ZLE using palladium-metallene (Pd-Me) and polypyrrole molecularly imprinted nanotubes (PMIN). Pd-Me is a novel metal material with excellent conductivity, unique three-dimensional structure, numerous active sites, and high stability, which has attracted widespread interest in the field of electrocatalysis. However, there are few reports on its application in electrochemical sensors. The three-dimensional configuration prepared effectively avoids the problem of electrical conductivity attenuation caused by material stacking, thereby significantly improving the sensor sensitivity. The further introduced PMIN constructed three-dimensional imprinting chambers rich in specific recognition sites on the electrode surface, which can achieve precise capture and enrichment of ZLE molecules. Through condition optimization, the sensor achieves a linear range of 5 −1000 ng mL −1 with the detection limit of 1.55 ng mL −1 , and demonstrates good repeatability, stability and reproducibility (RSD = 2.16 %) in agricultural product analysis. Compared with the existing ZLE detection technology, this method has the advantages of simple operation, low cost, high sensitivity and good selectivity.