MoS₂ nanosheets vertically aligned on carbon cloth via electrodeposition for non-enzymatic H₂O₂ detection in food

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), a common food disinfectant, poses health threats through residual contamination, necessitating a sensitive detection method. In this work, a molybdenum sulfide (MoS_x) film was in situ grown on carbon cloth (CC) via electrodeposition, followed by a post-annealing treatment to convert it into MoS₂ (MoS₂/CC). The fabricated non-enzymatic H₂O₂ electrochemical sensor demonstrated a wide linear range (1 μM-20 mM) with a detection limit of 1.1 μM. Additionally, the sensor was applied to detect H₂O₂ in food samples, achieving recoveries of 98.02%-111.85% and RSD < 7.09%. Mechanistic investigation with computational methods revealed that the high activity of MoS₂ arises from the presence of active sites on its surface that interact with H₂O₂ in a moderately to strongly favorable manner. This study theoretically elucidates the structure-activity relationship between the surface characteristics of MoS₂ and its adsorption behavior toward H₂O₂, offering a solid theoretical framework for the optimization of MoS₂-based sensors.