Robust and selective electrochemical detection of antibiotic residues: The case of integrated lutetium vanadate/graphene sheets architectures

Abstract

Lutetium vanadate (LuVO4) is a promising material for electrochemical application owing to its good conductivity and electrocatalytic activity. Herein, we demonstrate a facile technique for the synthesis of a LuVO4/ graphene sheet (GRS) nanocomposite where LuVO4 is encapsulated with an ultrathin GRS to form a hierarchical structure (LuVO4/GRS). The resulting hierarchical LuVO4/GRS architecture was characterized by several analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The resultant electrocatalyst shows superior electrochemical sensing for nitrofurantoin (NFT) with a low detection limit (0.001 μM), wide linear range (0.008–256.0 μM) and excellent sensitivity (1.709 μA μM−1 cm-2). It has been demonstrated that the enhanced electrocatalytic performance of LuVO4/GRS nanocomposite is due to their excellent electrical conductivity, suitable surface area, high redox reaction and large number of electron transport. In addition, the LuVO4/GRS nanocomposite exhibited excellent response towards NFT detection with adequate reproducibility, good repeatability, long-term stability and excellent selectivity over its structural analogs and common interferents. Furthermore, the practical applicability of the proposed electrochemical sensor was successfully applied for determination of NFT in environmental samples with satisfactory results. The LuVO4/GRS nanocomposite presented here can serve as a favorable candidate for developing electrochemical sensor and plays an important role in widespread fields.