An electrocatalyst with a large active site is critical
for the
development of a high-performance electrochemical sensor. This work
demonstrates the fabrication of an iron diselenide (FeSe2)-modified screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) for the electrochemical
determination of furaltadone (FLD). It has been prepared by the facile
method and systematically characterized with various microscopic/spectroscopic
approaches. Due to advantageous physiochemical properties, the FeSe2/SPCE showed a low charge-transfer resistance value of 200
Ω in 5.0 mM [Fe(CN)6]3–/4– containing 0.1 M KCl. More importantly, the FeSe2/SPCE
exhibited superior catalytic performance compared to the bare SPCE
for FLD sensing based on the electrochemical response in terms of
a peak potential of −0.44 V (vs Ag/AgCl (sat.
KCl)) and cathodic response current of −22.8 μA. Operating
at optimal conditions, the FeSe2-modified electrode showed
wide linearity from 0.01 to 252.2 μM with a limit of detection
of 0.002 μM and sensitivity of 1.15 μA μM–1 cm–2. The analytical performance of the FeSe2-based platform is significantly higher than many previously
reported FLD electrochemical sensors. Furthermore, the FeSe2/SPCE also has a promising platform for FLD detection with high sensitivity,
good selectivity, excellent stability, and robust reproducibility.
Thus, the finding above shows that the FeSe2/SPCE is a
highly suitable candidate for the electrochemical determination of
glucose levels for real-time applications such as in human urine and
river water samples.