Highly sensitive and selective electrochemical detection of clothianidin using reduced graphene oxide-anionic pillar[6]arene composite film

• ErGO-AP6 composite film is directly constructed on the surface of glassy carbon electrode. • ErGO-AP6 composite film is used as an electrochemical sensing platform for detecting clothianidin. • The interaction mechanism of AP6/CLO and β -CD/CLO is studied. • Owing to the synergistic effect of ErGO and AP6, ErGO-AP6 composite film shows an outstanding sensitivity and excellent selectivity towards CLO. On the surface of glassy carbon electrode, electrochemically reduced graphene oxide-anionic pillar[6]arene (ErGO-AP6) composite film is directly constructed using a potentiostatic method. This composite film is used as an electrochemical sensing platform for detecting clothianidin (CLO). Studies on the interaction mechanism reveal a higher supramolecular recognition capability between AP6 and CLO, compared to that between β -cyclodextrin ( β -CD) and CLO. Owing to the synergistic effect of ErGO and AP6, the ErGO-AP6 composite film shows an outstanding sensitivity and excellent selectivity towards CLO, superior to that of ErGO- β -CD film. The linear range from 1.0 × 10 −7 to 5.0 × 10 −5 mol L −1 and detection limit of 4.0 × 10 −8 mol L −1 for CLO are achieved. In addition, the presented method is used for fruit and water samples in a recovery test, showing recovery rates between 90.0% and 99.4%. This study provides a promising electrochemical sensing platform for rapid and sensitive analysis of CLO.