A simple and reliable electrochemical method employing an unmodified boron-doped diamond electrode for the determination of triclocarban

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, triclocarban-containing cleaning products have been increasingly consumed. As triclocarban is an emerging compound, it is necessary to develop new sensors for its monitoring. So, a simple and reliable electroanalytical method for the determination of triclocarban using an unmodified boron-doped diamond electrode was developed. The application of a cathodic pretreatment (−2.0 V, 30 min, 0.5 mol L−1 H2SO4) on the electrode surface provided higher current intensities and lower resistance to charge transfer in contrast to the non-treated surface. On the diamond electrode surface, the triclocarban showed an irreversible behaviour with two oxidation peaks at +1.10 and +1.40 V vs. Ag/AgCl, KCl(sat). The hypothesis for removing hydrogens of both amide groups of the triclocarban structure was supported by computational methodology which also explained the broadened oxidation peaks and the distance between them. The calibration curve for triclocarban, obtained by using differential pulse voltammetry in a supporting electrolyte composed of McIlvaine buffer (pH 3.0) and ethanol (80:20 v/v), covered a concentration range of 1.0 to 50 μmol L−1, and it exhibited a detection limit of 0.31 μmol L−1 under optimized experimental conditions. Using an accumulation time of 120 s at open circuit potential, a calibration curve by differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry was constructed in a range of 0.05 to 20 µmol L−1 of triclocarban, with a detection limit of 18 nmol L−1. Triclocarban quantification assays were carried out on samples of antibacterial soaps and river water, and data were recorded with acceptable precision and accuracy.