Ultrasensitive non-enzymatic pesticide electrochemical sensor based on HKUST-1-derived copper oxide @ mesoporous carbon composite

•The copper oxide @ mesoporous carbon (CuOx@mC) composite was prepared from directly pyrolysing metal–organic framework HKUST-1.•The CuOx@mC composite showed better electrochemical response towards glyphosate than HKUST-1 did.•Glyphosate senor based on CuOx@mC/GCE had ultralow detection limit of 7.69 × 10–16 mol L–1.•The sensor was applied to the real samples with satisfactory results. Electrochemical sensors for monitoring pesticides have attracted great interest recently. Herein, we report a novel strategy to fabricate an ultrasensitive non-enzymatic pesticide sensor based on glass carbon electrode (GCE) modified by copper oxide @ mesoporous carbon (CuOx@mC) composite derived from directly pyrolysing metal–organic framework HKUST-1. The formation of CuOx@mC composite was confirmed by multiple characterization techniques. The CuOx@mC composite showed better electrochemical response towards glyphosate than HKUST-1 did, which may be attributed to its mesoporous structure and improved conductivity after heat treatment. The electrochemical measurements demonstrated that the CuOx@mC/GCE displayed superior sensing performances, giving an ultralow detection limit of 7.69 × 10−16 M toward glyphosate over the linear range of 1.0 × 10-15 to 1.0 × 10-4 M. The sensor also showed good reproducibility, stability and excellent anti-interference ability. Furthermore, the sensor was applied to detect glyphosate in real fruits samples and received satisfactory results and excellent recoveries.