Natasya Salsabiila, Suratun Nafisah, Bambang Irawan Tanjung, Nur Liyana Razali, Marlia Morsin, Lukman Nulhakim, Muhammad Reza Kahar Aziz
A widely utilized organophosphate pesticide for crop pest control, profenofos and diazinon, have been categorized as moderately toxic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Hence, the identification of profenofos and diazinon residues holds importance for ensuring food safety. This study focuses on the alternative profenofos and diazinon detection method utilizing optical sensors, offering a label-free and real-time measurement scheme. The sensor utilizes zinc oxide (ZnO) with a microflowers structure (ZnO MFs) as the sensing material, chosen for its enlarged surface area, which enhances sensitivity to alterations in the surrounding medium. Synthesized via the solution route method, the ZnO MFs exhibit dimensions of 5.47 ± 0.84 µm in length, 1.30 ± 0.26 µm in width, and an aspect ratio of 4.35 ± 1.02. Profenofos and diazinon concentrations ranging from 1 to 10, 000 ppm are used as targeted analytes for sensor testing. The findings demonstrate distinct responses of the optical sensor, with a detection limit (LoD) of 1 ppm. The sensing parameter, Absolute Optical Change (AOC), exhibits its highest value at 1 ppm for profenofos and 100 ppm for diazinon, indicating an optimal sensitivity. In conclusion, optical sensors using ZnO MFs as sensing material offer a good potential to be used as an alternative method for pesticide detection, with further improvement in LoD and sensitivity aspects needed. © This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
Department of Electrical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Jatiagung, Lampung Selatan, 35365, Indonesia; Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, Parit Raja, 86400, Malaysia; Microelectronics and Nanotechnology - Shamsuddin Research Centre (MiNT-SRC), Institute of Integrated Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, Parit Raja, 86400, Malaysia; Technology Development I, PT. Pertamina, South Jakarta, 12710, Indonesia