Green tea-derived activated carbon/BaSnO3 nanocomposites for electrochemical detection of clothianidin in fruit and vegetable foodstuffs.

Exceeding the permissible pesticide residue limits is extremely detrimental to ecological systems and human health. As a typical neonicotinoid insecticide, clothianidin (E-1-(2-chloro-1,3-thiazol-5-yl-methy-1-2-nitroguanidine), CLO) has caused serious environmental hazards. The development of a convenient and practical method to monitor CLO residues in agriculture is crucial. Herein, we employ a facile strategy to fabricate an ingenious, sensitive electrochemical sensor for CLO determination based on a green tea-derived activated carbon (GTDC) assembly with a barium stannate (BaSnO3)-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The fabricated GTDC/BaSnO3/GCE has good sensitivity, which is attributed to the good conductivity of GTDC and the satisfactory catalytic activity of BaSnO3. With the synergistic effect of the GTDC/BaSnO3 nanocomposites, the proposed sensor exhibits a wide detection linear range (2-1000 µM) and a low limit of detection (LOD) (0.287 µM). Moreover, GTDC/BaSnO3/GCE displayed satisfactory operating durability, reproducibility, and repeatability for CLO detection, showing satisfactory recoveries in real sample detection for fruit and vegetable foodstuffs. This work provides an economical, portable, and sensitive approach for CLO monitoring in practical applications.