Macro-meso-microporous carbon composite derived from hydrophilic metal-organic framework as high-performance electrochemical sensor for neonicotinoid determination

Electrochemical analysis enables pesticides monitoring become rapid and efficient. Herein, novel three dimensional nitrogen–doped macro–meso–microporous carbon composites (N/Cu–HPC) derived from polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) doped Cu–metal organic framework were successfully formed via one–pot solvothermal method followed by pyrolysis, which were further applied in high–performance electrochemical determination of neonicotinoid. The introduction of PVP endows the N/Cu–HPC good hydrophilicity preventing aggregation as well as more highly electronegative nitrogen species boosting electro–catalytic property dramatically. Interestingly, the macro–meso–microporous architecture improves mass and charge transports between neonicotinoid molecules and active sites such as Cu nanoparticles and carbon atoms possessing Lewis basicity next to pyridinic-N. Based on the N/Cu–HPC, imidacloprid (IDP), thiamethoxam (THA) and dinotefuran (DNF) were detected with wide linear detection ranges (0.5–60 μM for both IDP and DNF, 1–60 μM for THA) and low detection limits (0.026 μM for IDP, 0.062 μM for THA and 0.01 μM for DNF). Meanwhile, this sensor can be successfully used for determination of IDP, THA and DNF in oat, corn and rice with good recoveries (92.0–100.9%, RSD ≤ 4.8%), demonstrating that the N/Cu–HPC possesses a high potential to be an advanced sensing device for monitoring neonicotinoid in agricultural products.