Smartphone-based colorimetric paper chip sensor using single-atom nanozyme for the detection of carbofuran pesticide residues in vegetables

Carbofuran (CBF), which exhibit high toxicity, persistent residues, ease of accumulation, and resistance to degradation, pose serious threats to human health and harm the ecological environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a rapid and accurate method for detecting CBF. In this work, a low-cost, portable, and easy-to-use paper chip biosensor was developed, integrating smartphones for the detection of CBF pesticide residues. This biosensor facilitates rapid on-site testing, meeting the needs for immediate analysis. CBF has the ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. In the presence of AChE, acetylthiocholine (ATCh) is hydrolyzed to produce thiocholine (TCh). TCh, in turn, can inhibit the catalytic activity of Ni-N-C single-atom nanozymes (SAzyme) synthesized using Ni(OH)₂ nanochip as a metal precursor, which possess high peroxidase activity. Consequently, the concentration of CBF can be determined by observing the resultant color changes. The results showed that this sensor had a good linear response in the range of CBF concentration from 10 to 500 ng/mL, and the LOD was as low as 8.79 ng/mL. In testing three actual samples-Chinese cabbage, cabbage, and lettuce-the recoveries ranged from 81.09% to 125.27%. This demonstrated that the proposed smartphone-based colorimetric paper chip sensor, utilizing Ni-N-C SAzyme, offers an immediate, convenient, and rapid new strategy for detecting CBF.