Direct determination of pesticides in vegetable samples using gold nanoelectrode ensembles

Gold nanowires were produced by electrodeposition in polycarbonate membrane, with an average diameter of 200 nm and a height of about 2 μm. The nanowire array prepared by the proposed method can be considered as nanoelectrode ensembles (NEEs). An amperometric pesticides sensor based on gold NEEs has been developed and used for determination of phoxim and dimethoate in vegetable samples. The electrochemical performance of the gold NEEs has also been studied by the amperometric method. The electrode provided a linear response over a concentration range of 5.9 × 10−5 to 1.2 × 10−2 M for phoxim with a detection limit of 4.8 × 10−6 M and 6.3 × 10−5 to 1.1 × 10−2 M for dimethoate. This sensor displayed high sensitivity and selectivity, long-term stability and wide linear range. In addition, the ellipsis of enzyme and the reactivation of enzyme make the operation simple. This sensor has been used to determine pesticides in a real vegetable sample.