Bismuth modified carbon-based electrodes for the determination of selected neonicotinoid insecticides

Two types of bismuth modified electrodes, a bismuth-film modified glassy carbon (BiF-GCE) and a bismuth bulk modified carbon paste, were applied for the determination of selected nitroguanidine neonicotinoid insecticides. The method based on an ex situ prepared BiF-GCE operated in the differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) mode was applied to determine clothianidin in the concentration range from 2.5 to 23 μg cm⁻³ with a relative standard deviation (RSD) not exceeding 1.5%. The tricresyl phosphate-based carbon paste electrodes (TCP-CPEs), bulk modified with 5 and 20 w/w% of bismuth, showed a different analytical performance in the determination of imidacloprid, regarding the peak shape, potential window, and noise level. The TCP-CPE with 5% Bi was advantageous, and the developed DPV method based on it allowed the determination in the concentration range from 1.7 to 60 μg cm⁻³ with an RSD of 2.4%. To get a deeper insight into the morphology of the bismuth-based sensor surfaces, scanning electron microscopic measurements were performed of both the surface film and the bulk modified electrodes.