Novel visible-light-responsive photoelectrochemical sensor of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid using molecularly imprinted polymer/BiOI nanoflake arrays

• The first smart integration of BiOINFs with molecularly imprinted Au nanoparticles–polypyrrole
• MIP AuNPs–PPy not only as the recognition unit, but also with strong synergistic effects on the enhanced photocurrent
• A highly sensitive and selective PEC sensing strategy developed for 2,4-D detection

A novel and highly sensitive visible-light photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor for the detection of 2,4-D has been developed using a nanocomposite of molecularly imprinted gold nanoparticles-polypyrrole polymer (MIP) modified BiOI nanoflake arrays (BiOINFs) as a photoactive electrode (labeled as MIP@BiOINFs). Our results demonstrate that the smart combination of BiOINFs with MIP offers a high-performance photoactive sensing platform. It features the intrinsically excellent visible-light responsive properties of BiOI and prominent recognition ability from MIP. The designed MIP@BiOINF composite dramatically facilitates the PEC determination of 2,4-D. The detection limit for 2,4-D is found to be as low as about 0.04 ng mL− 1 (S/N = 3). Moreover, the resulting sensor could be used to detect 2,4-D in spiked soil samples.

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