β-cyclodextrin-cobalt ferrite nanocomposite as enhanced sensing platform for catechol determination.

An electrochemical sensor based on β-cyclodextrin-cobalt ferrite nanocomposite was developed for the sensitive detection of catechol (CT). To construct the base of the sensor, a novel composite was initially fabricated and used as the substrate material by combining cobalt ferrite nanocomposite and β-cyclodextrin via a simple sonication-induced assembly. Due to the high catechol-loading capacity on the electrode surface and the upstanding electric conductivity of cobalt ferrite nanocomposite, the electrochemical response of the fabricated sensor was greatly enhanced and displayed excellent analytical performance for catechol detection from 1 to 200 μM with a low detection limit of 0.12 μM (S/N=3). Moreover, the developed electrochemical sensor exhibited good selectivity and acceptable reproducibility and could be used for the detection of catechol in water samples.