Hydrothermally constructed AgWO4-rGO nanocomposites as an electrode enhancer for ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of hazardous herbicide crisquat

The advancements in electrode materials with high efficiency has been prioritized to effectively monitor the presence of harmful pesticides concerning the environment. In such a way, we hydrothermally constructed a hybrid AgWO4-rGO nanocomposites for the rapid electrochemical detection of crisquat (CQT). The structural, compositional, morphological and topographical characterization for AgWO4-rGO nanocomposites is thoroughly performed to understand its electrocatalytic properties. The AgWO4-rGO nanocomposites are used as an electrode enhancer (rGO@AgWO4/GCE) for the electrochemical investigations towards CQT detection. The results indicated that the rGO@AgWO4/GCE possessed an excellent catalytic activity with a wide linear detection range 1–1108 μM coupled with an ultrasensitive limit of detection (LOD) 0.0661 μM for electrochemical CQT detection. The rGO@AgWO4/GCE CQT sensor also expressed remarkable sensitivity of 0.6306 μAμM−1cm−2 in addition to good selectivity and reproducibility. Furthermore, the commercial CQT, river water, tap water and washed vegetable water are used as a representative for real world analysis using rGO@AgWO4/GCE and results are highly appreciable for the real time CQT detection. Our work proposes a novel hybrid rGO@AgWO4 nanocomposites reinforced electrodes for ultra-trace level CQT detection with good reliability and can be advocated for real time detection of pesticides. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd