A novel photoelectrochemical sensor for the organophosphorus pesticide dichlofenthion based on nanometer-sized titania coupled with a screen-printed electrode

A novel photoelectrochemical sensor for detection of the organophosphorus pesticide (OP) dichlofenthion using nanometer-sized titania coupled with a screen-printed electrode is presented. Nonelectroactive dichlofenthion can be indirectly determined through the photocatalytical degradation of dichlofenthion with nanometer-sized titania. The electrochemical characterization and anodic stripping voltammetric performance of dichlofenthion were evaluated using cyclic voltammetric (CV) and differential pulse anode stripping voltammetric (DPASV) analysis, respectively. DPASV analysis was used to monitor the amount of dichlofenthion and provide a simple, fast, and facile quantitative method for dichlofenthion. Operational parameters, including the photocatalysis time, pH of buffer solution, deposition potential, and accumulation time have been optimized. The stripping voltammetric response is linear over the 0.02-0.1 and 0.2-1.0 μmol/L ranges with a detection limit of 2.0 nmol/L. The assay result of dichlofenthion in green vegetable with the proposed method was in acceptable agreement with that of the gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) method. The promising sensor opens a new opportunity for fast, portable, and sensitive analysis of OPs in environmental samples.