High current flux electrochemical sensor based on nickel-iron bimetal pyrolytic carbon material of paper waste pulp for clenbuterol detection

As a β-stimulant, clenbuterol (CLB) is abused to varying degrees by athletes worldwide. It is also used in the meat and dairy industries. CLB inadvertently enters the human body through the food chain, endangering human health. Therefore, a rapid and convenient method for detecting CLB is needed. In this study, nanocarbon-supported NiFe2O4 electrode materials (NiFe2O4-NPCs) were synthesized, and an electrochemical sensor (NiFe2O4-NPCs/GCE) for CLB detection was fabricated. NiFe2O4-NPCs have good electrical conductivity, electrocatalytic activity, and high electrical flux, owing to their large specific surface area and the anti-spinel structure of NiFe2O4. The fabricated sensor is an effective detector of CLB. The sensor exhibits linear ranges of 10-7-10-5 M and 7 × 10-11-10-7 M and a limit of detection (LOD) of 3.03 × 10-12 M (S/N = 3). The sensor also exhibits good sensitivities of 3.264 μA μM-1 cm-2 and 0.751 μA μM-1 cm-2 (S/N = 3). Additionally, NiFe2O4-NPCs/GCE successfully detected CLB in real samples of human urine. Thus, this study highlights the potential of the NiFe2O4-NPCs/GCE sensor for the detection of CLB in biological samples.