Electrochemical Sensing of Nicotine Using Poly(Safranine)/MoS ₂ Nanocomposite Modified Electrode

Accurate and rapid detection of nicotine (NIC) is essential because of its high addictive potential and extensive use of tobacco and NIC-containing products. Herein, we synthesized MoS2 nanosheets and characterized them by using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). As-prepared MoS2 nanosheets were coated on to a glassy carbon electrode (GCE), and their electrochemical properties were studied. After that, polysafranine (PSF) film was deposited onto MoS2/GCE by electro-polymerization of safranine monomer. Interestingly, the MoS2 structure had shown high adsorption capability of PSF due to its high surface area and electrocatalytically active edge sites of MoS2. Under the optimized conditions, the PSF/MoS2 composite modified GCE displayed a wide linear response for the detection of NIC in the concentration range of 0.5–339 µM with a lowest limit of detection of 0.167 µM. This newly fabricated sensor showed outstanding performance for the detection of NIC in real-world samples, with the recovery percentage ranging from 101.4% to 102.4%. Thus, the PSF/MoS2 composite modified electrode offers a promising electrochemical sensor platform for NIC determination and highlights the potential of conducting polymer/metal dichalcogenide composite for the development of advanced NIC sensing devices.