In situ preparation of NiCoFe-LDH nanoflowers on carbon cloth toward simultaneous detecting hydroquinone and catechol

•Self-supported NiCoFe-LDH NFs/CC sensor was fabricated by simple hydrothermal method.•Simultaneous determination of hydroquinone and catechol was achieved.•Sensor has low detection limits, high selectivity, good stability, wide linear range.•Sensor showed great potential application on detecting dihydroxybenzene isomers. Herein, for the first time, a self-supported electrode for simultaneous determination of hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CA) was synthesized by loading NiCoFe-layered double hydroxide nanoflowers on hydrophilic carbon cloth (NiCoFe-LDH NFs/CC) with a simple hydrothermal method. By combining the advantages of NiCoFe-LDH NFs with hydrophilic carbon cloth such as good conductivity, 3D porous network structure, high electrocatalytic activity, and fast electron transport, the proposed NiCoFe-LDH NFs/CC electrode dispalyed good electrochemical activity for detecting HQ and CA. The binder-free and free-standing electrode based on NiCoFe-LDH NFs/CC possessed good linear range (5–200 μM), low determination limit (0.15 μM and 0.11 μM), and strong selectivity. Furthermore, it also showed good electrochemical stability without obvious change in ten days. More importantly, as-prepared electrode could be used as an efficient electrochemical sensor to determine HQ and CA content in actual samples with good recovery rate, revealing its feasibility in potential application.