An Overview of Pesticide Monitoring at Environmental Samples Using Carbon Nanotubes-Based Electrochemical Sensors

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes have received enormous attention in the development of electrochemical sensors by promoting electron transfer reactions, decreasing the work overpotential within great surface areas. The growing concerns about environmental health emphasized the necessity of continuous monitoring of pollutants. Pesticides have been successfully used to control agricultural and public health pests; however, intense use can cause a number of damages for biodiversity and human health. In this sense, carbon nanotubes-based electrochemical sensors have been proposed for pesticide monitoring combining different electrode modification strategies and electroanalytical techniques. In this paper, we provide a review of the recent advances in the use of carbon nanotubes for the construction of electrochemical sensors dedicated to the environmental monitoring of pesticides. Future directions, perspectives, and challenges are also commented.

Carbon Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Functionalization and Sensing Applications

“…For Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn the LOD varies between 0.017 to 4.4 ppb [494]. CNT based sensors are utilized to detect pesticides and an overview is presented in [495]. Also pathogens may be sensed as presented in [496] or explosives [497].…”

Affinity Sensing Strategies for the Detection of Pesticides in Food

“…Pesticides can be classified in several ways, according to their toxicity (dangerous, highly dangerous, moderately dangerous, and slightly dangerous) and their median lifetime (permanent, persistent, moderately persistent and not persistent). Often, due to a large number of chemicals and pesticides, they are classified according to the use as insecticides, miticides, herbicides, nematicides, fungicides, molluscicides, and rodenticides [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Referring to the chemical structure, the commonly reported main classes are organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids [ 5 ].…”

Simultaneous Voltammetric Detection of Carbaryl and Paraquat Pesticides on Graphene-Modified Boron-Doped Diamond Electrode

“…In addition, the enzymatic sensor exhibits specificity towards a certain species; this specificity inhibits development of the methodology for the simultaneous detection of pesticides. The advantages of applying electrochemical methods in pesticide residues detection are the low cost, easy operation, fast response, and high sensitivity [ 6 , 11 , 12 ].…”

“…Very promising results have been found for BDD application in the electrochemical detection of pesticides [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Carbon nanomaterials such as graphene, fullerene, and carbon nanotubes are used to enhance the electroanalytical performances of the working electrodes [ 11 , 22 ]. The unique morphological characteristics, chemical stability, and electrochemical properties of graphene open the possibility of implementing the direct electron-transfer-based mediatorless electrochemical detection scheme [ 22 , 23 ].…”