A novel electrochemical sensor for glyphosate detection based on Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i>/Cu-BTC nanocomposite

Abstract

The copper benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (Cu-BTC) with outstanding chemical and physical properties, is a novel and promising material in the field of electrochemical sensing. However, it has significant limitations for direct application in electrochemical sensing due to the relatively weak conductivity of Cu-BTC. Here, the conductivity of Cu-BTC was improved by loading Cu-BTC onto two-dimensional Ti₃C₂T _<i>x</i> nanosheets with high conductivity. Thanks to the synergistic effect produced by the high conductivity of Ti₃C₂T _<i>x</i> and the unique catalytic activity of Cu-BTC, the Ti₃C₂T _<i>x</i> /Cu-BTC nanocomposite exhibits excellent sensing performance for glyphosate, with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 2.6 × 10^-14 M and wider linear sensing range of 1.0 × 10^-13 to 1.0 × 10^-6 M. Moreover, the electrochemical sensor based on Ti₃C₂T _<i>x</i> /Cu-BTC also shows excellent selectivity, good reproducibility and stability.