Development of a chitosan-gold nanocomposite based disposable pencil graphite electrode for the selective detection of thiram in peach juice

ABSTRACT

Hazardous chemicals that are mostly employed in modern agriculture for pest management have caused long-term environmental accumulation as well as major issues with food safety and human health. So, there is an urgent demand for efficient detection methods for environmental monitoring. To do this, the most contemporary electrochemical sensor technology is suggested. In this study, a new electrochemical sensor has been developed to detect thiram (Th) fungicide, utilising a modified activated pencil graphite electrode (a-PGE) made from chitosan-gold nanoparticle polymer (Ch-AuNPs) for the first time. The Ch-AuNPs/a-PGE surface has been characterised using cyclic voltammetry (CV), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Following adjustments to experimental parameters, the proposed electrochemical sensor demonstrated a linear calibration curve within the range of 4.90–140 μM, displaying a rapid response to thiram with a detection limit of 1.15 μM. The sensor exhibited notable selectivity, stability, and reproducibility. To assess its practical utility, the sensor was applied to analyse thiram in peach juice, and the recovery process indicated its effectiveness as a practical, swift, and efficient tool in pesticide residue monitoring.

KEYWORDS:

• Thiram
• chitosan
• pencil graphite
• gold nanoparticle
• sensor

Acknowledgments

The study was performed at the Research Laboratory, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, Polatlı Arts and Science Faculty. The authors have not disclosed any funding.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contribution

Nazife Aslan: supervised the work and wrote the manuscript. writing – original draft, conceptualisation, methodology, data curation. Nilgün Şen: conceptualisation, methodology, data curation, investigation, validation. Melike Akan: (MSc student) conducted all the experiments and analysed the data.

Data availability statement

The data supporting this study’s findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.