Ultrasensitive photoelectrochemical aptasensor for carbendazim detection based on in-situ constructing Schottky junction via photoreducing Pd nanoparticles onto CdS microsphere

Carbendazim (CBZ) has been widely used in agricultural production to control fruits and vegetables diseases, but it can also destroy the human endocrine system. Therefore, sensitive detection of CBZ has attracted increasing attention worldwide. In this study, Pd nanoparticles (Pd NPs) decorated on CdS microsphere (Pd NPs/CdS) was prepared by the in-situ photoreduced method, and based on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of noble metal and Schottky junction between Pd nanoparticles (Pd NPs) and CdS microsphere, the photocurrent after introducing Pd NPs is 7.7 times higher than that of bare CdS microsphere. In view of the outstanding photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of Pd NPs/CdS and the high specificity of the aptamer, the as-fabricated PEC aptasensor for CBZ detection possesses the excellent detection performance including a broad linear ranging from 1.0 × 10^-12 to 1.0 × 10^-6 mol/L as a low detection limit of 3.3 × 10^-13 mol/L (S/N = 3). Furthermore, the PEC aptasensor was used for determination of lettuce samples from actual agricultural products with satisfactory results.