Construction of bimetallic MOF derived nickel–cobalt selenide on carbon cloth as integrated electrode for acetaminophen sensing

• A flexible NiCoSe/CC integrated electrode was successfully fabricated. • The NiCoSe/CC sensor showed the excellent sensing performance for AC. • Bimetallic sites and conductive CC synergistically enhance electrochemical activity. • The sensor showed excellent reproducibility, stability and anti-interference ability. • Accurate detection of AC in real tablet samples and environmental water was achieved. Herein, a simple in situ synthesis strategy to construct MOF-derived bimetallic nickel–cobalt selenide (NiCoSe) nanoparticles on carbon cloth (CC) was reported for the electrochemical determination of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs) acetaminophen (AC). Homogeneous NiCo-MOF nanosheets were first grown onto CC, followed by the phase and morphology conversion of MOF nanosheets into NiCoSe nanoparticles with the selenization step. Flexible CC served as an effective nucleation substrate, significantly mitigating nanoparticle aggregation and providing a larger surface area with highly exposed active sites for target interaction. Due to the excellent electrical conductivity of CC and the synergic catalytic effect between bimetallic selenides, the NiCoSe/CC integrated electrode exhibited significantly enhanced electrocatalytic activity for AC electrooxidation compared to the conventional coated electrode (NiCoSe/GCE). Under optimized conditions, this NiCoSe/CC electrode achieved a low detection limit of 0.012 μM for AC, accompanied by a high sensitivity of 0.147 μA μM −1 , within an effective linear range of 0.05–200 µM. Furthermore, the sensor with good reproducibility and anti-interference also achieved practical detection of AC in tablet samples and environmental water samples with recoveries of 95.5–105.3 %. This study provided a new idea for constructing MOF-derived bimetallic selenides and their application in flexible electrochemical sensing.