NiCo2S4@ZnIn2S4-Assisted All-in-One Self-Powered electrochemical device for ultrasensitive detection and degradation of AFB1

Self-powered sensors are easy to be integrated and miniaturized without power supply, providing an attractive way to construct smart, portable and implantable device. However, it is challenging to realize practical application especially for food safety problems due to the low energy conversion efficiency and the degradation difficulty of toxins. Herein, a new all-in-one photocatalytic self-powered electrochemical device (SPED) was proposed for the first time to achieve sensitive detection and efficient degradation of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) by the integration of photocatalytic fuel cell with photocatalytic degradation. NiCo2S4@ZnIn2S4 (NCS@ZIS) heterojunction was used as photoanode material with a high photocurrent of 13.7 μA, improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency greatly. By combining with photocathode, the output power of the SPED was greatly boosted to 467.4 mV, which realized AFB1 detection ranging from 0.001 ng/mL to 1000 ng/mL with a low detection limit of 0.17 pg/mL. In addition, owing to the photocatalysis of NCS@ZIS heterojunction as well as the drive of voltage difference between anode and cathode, the SPED showed a high degradation efficiency up to 81.62 % within 120 min. The successful construction of the all-in-one SPED achieved ultrasensitive detection and degradation of AFB1, demonstrating a great promising application in food security and environmental monitoring areas.