Sensitive simultaneous determination of catechol and hydroquinone based on iron and nitrogen doped carbon nanonets derived from MOFs

[Display omitted] •Aqueous phase synthesis of the leaf-shaped iron-doped Fe-L-ZIF-8.•Fe,N-CNs is fabricated with Fe-L-ZIF-8 as the pyrolysis precursor.•Fe,N-CNs/GCE can realize simultaneous detection of catechol and hydroquinone.•It has lower detection limit with good sensitivity, stability and selectivity. In this work, a leaf-shaped iron-doped metal–organic framework (MOF) was synthesized in the aqueous phase and marked as Fe-L-ZIF-8. Fe-L-ZIF-8 was carbonized at high temperature under nitrogen atmosphere to obtain an iron and nitrogen doped carbon nanonets with unique three-dimensional network structure (Fe,N-CNs), which was characterized with XRD, SEM, EDS, FTIR and electrochemical impedance spectra. And a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor was constructed through modifying Fe,N-CNs on the surface of a glassy carbon substrate for simultaneous detection of catechol and hydroquinone. Under optimal conditions, both the linear ranges for detecting CC and HQ are 0.50–80.00 μM and the limits of detection are both 0.17 μM. In addition, the proposed sensor exhibited a wider linear range with good stability, reproducibility and selectivity, which has potential applications.