Pesticides are used in agriculture for crop production enhancement by controlling pests, but they have acute toxicological effects on other life forms. Thus, it becomes imperative to detect their concentration in food products in a fast and accurate manner. In this study, ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO nps) have been used as optical sensors for the detection of pesticide Aldicarb via a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) route. ZnO nps were synthesized directly by calcining zinc acetate at 450, 500, and 550 °C for 2 h. ZnO nps were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies to study the phase, crystallinity, shape, morphology, absorbance, and fluorescence of the prepared ZnO nps. XRD and Raman studies confirmed the crystalline nature of ZnO nps. The average crystallite size obtained was 13-20 nm from the XRD study. The SEM study confirmed spherical-shaped ZnO nps with average sizes in the range of 70-150 nm. The maximum absorbance was obtained in the 200-500 nm regions with a prominent peak absorbance at 372 nm from UV-vis spectra. The corresponding band gap for ZnO nps was calculated using Tauc's plots and was found to be 3.8, 3.67, and 3.45 eV for the 450, 500, and 550 °C calcined samples, respectively. The fluorescence spectra showed an increase in the intensity along with the increase in the size of ZnO nps. The ZnO nps (samples calcined at 500 and 550 °C) exhibited a response toward Aldicarb, owing to their pure phase and higher PL intensity. Both the samples showed systematic detection of Aldicarb in the range of 250 pM to 2 nM (500 °C) and 250 pM to 5 nM (550 °C). Among the various quenching mechanisms, PET was found to be the dominant process for the detection of Aldicarb. This method can be used for the detection of Aldicarb in real (food) samples using a portable fluorimeter.

中文翻译：

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一步合成的基于ZnO np的光学传感器，用于通过光致电子转移途径检测涕灭威。

农药在农业中用于通过控制害虫来提高作物产量，但它们对其他生命形式具有急性毒理作用。因此，必须以快速和准确的方式检测它们在食品中的浓度。在这项研究中，ZnO纳米颗粒（ZnO nps）已用作光学传感器，用于通过光致电子转移（PET）路线检测农药涕灭威。通过在450、500和550°C下煅烧乙酸锌2小时直接合成ZnO nps。ZnO nps通过X射线衍射（XRD），拉曼光谱，扫描电子显微镜（SEM）以及紫外可见吸收和光致发光（PL）光谱进行表征，以研究ZnO nps的相，结晶度，形状，形态，吸光度和荧光准备好的ZnO nps。XRD和拉曼研究证实了ZnO nps的晶体性质。通过XRD研究获得的平均微晶尺寸为13-20nm。SEM研究证实球形ZnO nps的平均尺寸在70-150 nm范围内。从紫外可见光谱在200-500 nm区域获得最大吸光度，在372 nm处有一个明显的峰值吸光度。使用Tauc曲线计算出ZnO nps的相应带隙，发现450、500和550°C煅烧样品的带隙分别为3.8、3.67和3.45 eV。荧光光谱显示强度随ZnO nps尺寸的增加而增加。ZnO nps（在500和550°C下煅烧的样品）由于其纯相和较高的PL强度而对涕灭威有响应。两种样品均显示在250 pM至2 nM（500°C）和250 pM至5 nM（550°C）范围内对涕灭威进行系统检测。在各种淬灭机理中，PET是检测涕灭威的主要过程。该方法可用于使用便携式荧光计检测实际（食品）样品中的涕灭威。