Nitrogen and fluoride co-doped graphdiyne with metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived NiCo2O4–Co3O4 nanocages as sensing layers for ultra-sensitive pesticide detection

Abstract

Heteroatom doped graphdiyne (GDY) has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy for achieving outstanding electrochemical properties, including improved electrocatalytic activity, tunable electronic properties and high electronic conductivity, by producing numerous heteroatomic defects as well as active sites. Extensive efforts have been devoted to the issue of single element doping of GDY. Introducing two or more kinds of heteroatoms into GDY materials may create a synergic effect between the co-dopants, thus generating superior electrochemical performance. Nevertheless, little research on multiple elements co-doped GDY, especially in the application of constructing electrochemical biosensor. Herein, nitrogen and fluoride co-doped GDY (N–F-GDY) has been synthesized and employed to combine with NiCo2O4–Co3O4 hollow multishelled nanocages to establish an ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for the assay of pesticide residue. The as-prepared electrochemical biosensor possesses a wide linear range of 0.448 pM–44.8 nM for monocrotophos detection and a low detection limit of 0.0166 fM (S/N = 3).