Rationally designed urchin-like structured cobalt diselenide (o-CoSe₂) for the sensitive voltammetric detection of carbendazim fungicide in vegetables and water samples

In this article, we report the electrochemical sensor based on the urchin-like structured orthorhombic marcasite cobalt diselenide (o-CoSe₂) prepared by a simple hydrothermal method for the sensitive detection of carbendazim (CBZ) in food and water samples. The as-prepared hierarchical structured o-CoSe₂ has generous active sites/edges, and high surface area, which significantly improves the electrochemical activity towards the detection of CBZ. Moreover, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used to investigate the analytical performance of the prepared sensor. Under the optimized condition, o-CoSe₂ modified glassy carbon electrode (o-CoSe₂/GCE) shows a rapid anodic current response to CBZ with the minimized potential of + 0.93 V vs Ag/AgCl in pH-7. The proposed sensor possessed the linear range of 0.01–2.43 µM and 2.43–382.43 µM accompanying detection limit of 1.69 nM. Furthermore, the designed sensor existing excellent long-term stability, anti-interference, and reproducibility. Finally, the practical applicability of the prepared sensor for the detection of CBZ was tested in the tomatoes and river water samples, resulting in satisfactory recoveries of 97.2–98.6% and 97.8–99.2%.