Surface engineering of carbon selenide nanofilms on carbon cloth: An advanced and ultrasensitive self-supporting binder-free electrode for nitrite sensing.

Large uptakes of nitrite have been proven to be detrimental to human health, therefore, the development of high-performance nitrite sensors is highly emergent. Herein, a carbon selenide nanofilms modified carbon fiber cloth (CSe2 NF/CC) electrode was obtained via in-situ synthesis to detect nitrite. The electrode integrates the collective merits of macroporous CC and pleated carbon selenide nanofilms, possessing a low overpotential of 0.83 V, a high electrochemical active surface area (EASA) of 5.39 cm2, great electrical conductivity, and fast charge transport as well as ion diffusion. The proposed electrode achieved a low limit of detection of 0.04 μmol L-1 (S/N = 3), a high sensitivity of 2048.56 μA mmol L-1 cm-2, excellent selectivity, and long-term stability. Additionally, the CSe2 NF/CC was successfully used for nitrite detection in different food samples such as pickled vegetables and sausage samples.