Determination of carbaryl pesticide using amperometric acetylcholinesterase sensor formed by electrochemically deposited chitosan

A sensitive, fast and cheap sensor for quantitative determination of carbaryl pesticide using amperometric acetylcholinesterase (AChE) sensor based on electrochemically deposited chitosan was reported. From a mildly acidic chitosan solution, a chitosan film is electrochemically deposited on Au electrode surface via a negative voltage bias, leading to a stable AChE sensor. The characteristics of the deposited layer were observed to be dependent upon the deposition time, pH, and the chitosan concentration. Fourier-transform infrared spectra proved that the immobilized enzyme could preserve their native structure due to the excellent biocompatibility and non-toxicity of chitosan. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the carbaryl inhibition on AChE-CHIT/Au was proportional to its concentration in two ranges, from 0.005 to 0.1 μg/ml and 0.5 to 5 μg/ml, with the correlation coefficients of 0.9966 and 0.9982, respectively. The detection limit was 0.003 μg/ml taken as the concentration equivalent to a 10% decrease in signal. The determination of carbaryl in garlic samples obtained from export of farm base showed acceptable accuracy. The developed sensor exhibited good fabrication reproducibility and acceptable stability, which provided a new promising tool for pesticide analysis.