Layered metal chalcogenide of SnSe nanosheets integrated with 2D-hexagonal boron nitride for accurate and low-level detection of nitrofurazone

Rising global demands for monitoring the health care and environmental system have increased the usage of antibodies as they are forced to deal with food products and environmental samples. Nitrofurazone (NF) is an important antibiotic that is widely used in clinical treatments, but its uncontrolled utilization and disposal wastage cause serious global issues into the ecosystem. Thus, a sensitive electrochemical method is developed for the real-time and low-level detection of NF. Layered metal chalcogenides of tin selenide (SnSe) integrated with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) are prepared as an electrode material for the detection of NF to take advantage of the unique structural and physiochemical properties of SnSe and h-BN. The physicochemical characteristics of SnSe/h-BN composite are determined with various spectral and analytical methods. The fabricated SnSe/h-BN electrode possesses excellent electrochemical activity for the detection of NF, with dual linear ranges of 0.001–12.12 µM and 15.2–342.2 µM, a low limit of detection of 0.34 nM, and a high sensitivity of 1.927 µA µM⁻¹ cm⁻². The superior performance could be attributed to the higher active surface area of the SnSe/h-BN composite and a synergistic effect between SnSe and h-BN that enhances the kinetics of the electron transfer over the electrode–electrolyte interface. The SnSe/h-BN electrode also achieves a satisfactory response level for the detection of NF in water and urine samples, thus indicating its feasibility for the rapid, low-level detection, and real-time analysis of NF.