Square Wave Voltammetric Determination of Residues of Carbendazim Using a Fullerene/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes/Nafion ® /Coated Glassy Carbon Electrode

Abstract

A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with a fullerene/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs)/Nafion composite and applied to the determination of carbendazim, a fungicide. The voltammetric behavior of the analyte was investigated using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), on the bare GCE and on the same electrode coated by a thin film of the composite material. The electrode response was more than fourfold important on the modified electrode, due to electrical conductivity of fullerene and MWCNT and to favorable electrostatic interaction between the negatively charged Nafion and the protonated fungicide. A sensitive electroanalytical procedure based on Square Wave Voltammetry (SWV) was then developed to detect the analyte. Under the optimum conditions, a linear relationship was obtained between the peak current and the concentration of carbendazim, in the range from 2.0 × 10 −8 mol/L to 3.5 × 10 −7 mol/L, leading to a detection limit of 1.7 × 10 −8 mol/L and to a quantification limit of 5.57 × 10 −8 mol/L. The developed procedure was successfully applied to detect carbendazim upon adsorption by some ferritic soils.