Facile Synthesis of MXene/Electrochemically Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites and Their Application for Electrochemical Sensing of Carbendazim

Transition-metal carbides (MXenes) are an emerging class of two-dimensional (2D) materials with promising electrochemical sensing performance due to their unique structural and electronic properties. To further improve its sensing performance, herein, the composite of Ti3C2Tx (MXene) and electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (MXene/ERGO) was proposed as electrode material for electrochemical detection of pesticide carbendazim (CBZ). The MXene/ERGO was synthesized by a facile and green electrochemical approach, where the mixture of MXene and graphene oxide (GO) was firstly dropped on the electrode surface, followed by electrochemical reduction of GO. The ERGO conductive networks tightly linked the separated layers of Ti3C2Tx and connected the separated Ti3C2Tx particles, which leading to enhanced electronic conductivity, improved the electrochemical reactivity of electrode materials and facilitated electron transfer between electrode and detection molecules. Consequently, the sensor based on MXene/ERGO exhibited a high sensitive detection of CBZ with a wide linear range of 2.0 nM ∼ 10.0 μM and a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.67 nM. Moreover, the sensor showed good selectivity and reproducibility toward CBZ detection. The proposed sensor was successfully subjected to detect CBZ in cucumber and orange juice samples with acceptable results.