Electrochemical determination of vanillin using 2D/2D heterostructure based on ZnCr-layered double hydroxide and g-CN.

A ZnCr-LDH@g-CN composite was synthesized through a one-pot hydrothermal method to fabricate an effective sensor for detecting vanillin. The prepared material was investigated by using structural and physical studies. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) with applied potential (E pa  =  + 0.68 V vs Ag/AgCl) were used to examine the electrochemical behavior of vanillin. The fabricated electrode exhibited a linear detection range of 0.001-143.2 μM, a low detection limit of 0.9 nM, sensitivity of 4.72 µA µM -1  cm -2 , selectivity, stability, reproducibility (RSD = 4.40%), and repeatability (RSD = 4.46%). The optimized sensor was successfully applied to detect vanillin in real samples, including ice cream, chocolate, and water, and their recovery was 98.46-99.80%. Overall, the ZnCr-LDH@g-CN composite sensor offers a promising solution for precise vanillin detection.