Ingenious design of iron vanadate engulfed 3D porous reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites as a reliable electrocatalyst for the selective amperometric determination of furaltadone in aquatic environments

Highlights: • An efficient electrochemical sensor for detecting FLD has been reported. • We have prepared FeVO/p-rGO NCs by a simple ultrasonic method. • The developed FeVO/p-rGO NCs/RRDE has a LOD of 138 nM for FLD detection. • The developed sensor shows good recovery results in real-time analysis of FLD. The improper discharge of organic toxicants, such as pesticides and antibiotics into water resources is a global problem that poses a serious threat to human health and the environment. In this work, an electrochemical sensor was developed for the selective detection of the antibiotic drug furaltadone (FLD) using iron vanadium oxide nanoparticles (Fe_0.11V₂O_5.16, FeVO NPs) wrapped porous reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (p-rGO NSs) nanocomposites (FeVO/p-rGO NCs) as an electrocatalyst. A simple hydrothermal method was used to synthesize FeVO NPs and p-rGO NSs. The structural and morphological properties of the nanocomposites were characterized by different characterization techniques such as XRD, Raman, XPS, FE-SEM, and HR-TEM analyses. Electrochemical studies were performed using EIS, CV, and amperometric (i-t) techniques. The FeVO/p-rGO NCs sensor shows two wider linear ranges from 0.5 to 84 µM and 94 to 1319 µM with a low detection limit of 138 nM (44.74 µg kg⁻¹). The proposed sensor showed good recovery results for the determination of FLD in industrial wastewater and lake water samples. The results obtained with real samples prove that the developed sensor demonstrated its practical applicability for detecting environmentally hazardous pollutants and protecting our aquatic ecosystem.