Electrochemical detection of bisphenol A in milk using copper/copper oxide-decorated N-doped carbon derived from copper-triazole/bacterial cellulose hybrids

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on copper-triazole (Cu-MOF) were grown in situ on bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes to achieve highly dispersed MOF@BC hybrids to be used in electrochemical sensing applications. The Cu-MOF@BC hybrids were then used to obtain carbon structures decorated with Cu-species and N-dopants (Cu/CuO-N-C). The Cu/CuO-N-Cs were then used as electrocatalysts for detecting bisphenol A (BPA), also known for its endocrine disturbing effect. Bacterial cellulose (BC) support with abundant oxygen-containing groups enabled the growth of highly distributed MOF nanoparticles. In addition, the copper clusters incorporated in the MOFs showed remarkable conductivity. The sensors yielded a wide linear range of 1.0–11.0 µM with a low detection limit of 30.5 nM against BPA. The sensors indicated good stability, selectivity, and reproducibility. The real sample experiments were conducted in milk, and the recoveries were measured between 102 % and 89.8 %, suggesting the applicability of the sensors for detecting BPA in real samples.