A high performance electrochemical sensor for carbendazim based on porous carbon with intrinsic defects

• A novel sensing material, D-HPC was firstly used to fabricate electrochemical sensor. • Introduction of defect engineering can significantly improve the sensing performance of the sensor. • The proposed sensor was used to the detecion of carbendazim in real samples with high reliability. In this study, we describe a new and straightforward method of electrode modification for introducing intrinsic defects into hierarchically porous carbon (D-HPC), and we use this method to fabricate a robust carbendazim (CBZ) electrochemical sensor. The characterization results of D-HPC demonstrate that this material possesses a hierarchical porous structure (micropores, mesopores, and macropores) with a large specific surface area (1508.9 m 2 g −1 ). The unique structure and excellent electrical conductivity of D-HPC significantly enhance the electrochemical properties of the CBZ sensor. The active sites formed by defect engineering resulted in a high loading of CBZ molecules on the electrode surface, which allows for the sensor to possess excellent sensitivity. Under optimized conditions, the linear range of the sensor for determination of CBZ concentration was 0.010–1.0 μM, and the detection limit was 0.0061 μM. Lastly, we demonstrate the practical applicability of the sensor by using it to determine the concentration of CBZ in river water, lettuce, and soil samples.