A new copper doped montmorillonite modified carbon paste electrode for propineb detection

•New sensor has been developed for propineb detection.•Some parameters have been optimized to meet satisfactory detection.•Square wave voltammetry has been used for sensor performance examination.•The sensor was successfully applied in aquatic medium for propineb detection.

A new copper doped natural montmorillonite modified carbon paste electrode (Cu2 +-Mt-CPE) was developed as a new highly sensitive and selective voltammetric sensor for on-line monitoring of propineb fungicide. The optimization and evaluation of the developed sensor were performed using square wave voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry techniques. The results show that the Cu2 + exchanged natural montmorillonite acts as an efficient electrocatalyst to detect propineb. Under the optimized conditions, a good sensitivity and selectivity to propineb was obtained at Cu2 +-Mt-CPE with a low detection limit of about 1 μM and wide linear range from 5 to 30 μM. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of propineb in river and sea water samples with a good recovery.