# Advances in Active Materials of Enzymatic Electrochemical Sensors for Detecting Organophosphorus Pesticides

**Authors:** Sijie Ma, Zihang Chen, Fuxiong Yang, Ting Yao, Suo Wang, Yi Yu, Liangbin Xiong, Xiaodong Hong, Guangjin Wang

PMC · DOI: 10.3390/molecules31040717 · 2026-02-19

## TL;DR

This review discusses recent advances in electrochemical sensors for detecting harmful pesticide residues in food using various active materials.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive review of electrochemical active materials for detecting organophosphorus pesticides.

## Key findings

- Carbon-based, polymer-based, and metal-based materials are widely used in sensor development.
- Metal-organic and covalent-organic frameworks show promise for improving sensor performance.
- Future research should focus on enhancing sensitivity, stability, and reproducibility of these sensors.

## Abstract

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) have been widely employed to increase food production and alleviate the increasingly serious food crisis. However, excessive use of these pesticides has seriously affected human health and even caused death due to significant pesticide residues in food. Therefore, enzymatic electrochemical sensors have been developed to monitor OP residues in food. The electrochemical detection performance of these sensors is determined by the physicochemical properties of electrochemical active materials in their active layers. The definition and classification of OPs are first introduced in this review, then the components of enzymatic electrochemical sensors, including electrodes, electrochemical active layer and bioactive enzyme layer, are analyzed in detail. Furthermore, this review emphatically discusses the recent development of enzymatic electrochemical sensors based on various electrochemical active materials: carbon-based, polymer-based, metal-based, metallic compound-based, metal organic framework-based and covalent organic framework-based materials. Finally, probable research directions for developing enzymatic electrochemical sensors with high sensitivity, excellent stability and good reproducibility are outlined to accelerate rapid, effective and low-cost on-site detection OPs in food. This review is expected to provide inspiration for the design and preparation of the high-performance enzymatic electrochemical sensors.

## Linked entities

- **Chemicals:** OPs (PubChem CID 4369484)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** ACHE (acetylcholinesterase (Yt blood group)) [NCBI Gene 43] {aka ACEE, ARACHE, N-ACHE, YT}, BCHE (butyrylcholinesterase) [NCBI Gene 590] {aka BCHED, CHE1, CHE2, E1}
- **Diseases:** death (MESH:D003643), toxicity (MESH:D064420), injury to (MESH:D014947), poisoning (MESH:D011041), OP (MESH:D062025)
- **Chemicals:** CNF (MESH:C071110), MWNTs (-), H2O2 (MESH:D006861), porphyrin (MESH:D011166), OP (MESH:D010755), Gra (MESH:D006108), indium tin oxide (MESH:C109984), S (MESH:D013455), CuO (MESH:C030973), Zr (MESH:D015040), ethion (MESH:C100038), SiO2 (MESH:D012822), Thiocholines (MESH:D013860), chlorpyrifos (MESH:D004390), diazinon (MESH:D003976), phosphoramidates (MESH:C011067), indoxyl acetate (MESH:C053640), CNT (MESH:D037742), nafion (MESH:C040402), Ti (MESH:D014025), o-phenylenediamine (MESH:C034193), glyphosate (MESH:C010974), p-nitrophenol (MESH:C024836), carbamate pesticides (MESH:D002219), hydrocarbons (MESH:D006838), paraoxon (MESH:D010261), fenthion (MESH:D005284), terephthalic acid (MESH:C011363), methamidophos (MESH:C014655), 1,3,5-Tris(4-aminophenyl) benzene (MESH:C515346), thionine (MESH:C009469), Co (MESH:D003035), TiO2 (MESH:C009495), sulfonic acid (MESH:D013451), parathion (MESH:D010278), monocrotophos (MESH:D008999), halogen (MESH:D006219), glutaraldehyde (MESH:D005976), carbofuran (MESH:D002235), MXene (MESH:C000723374), hydrogen (MESH:D006859), oxide (MESH:D010087), isocarbophos (MESH:C549713), BAS (MESH:D001464), indigo carmine (MESH:D007203), acetylthiocholine (MESH:D000122), MoS2 (MESH:C082964), Metal (MESH:D008670), CoO (MESH:C041069), Au (MESH:D006046), Chi (MESH:D048271), phosphate (MESH:D010710), phosphorus (MESH:D010758), PSS (MESH:C003321), sugars (MESH:D000073893), PB (MESH:C000170), dodecyl sulfate (MESH:C028913), profenofos (MESH:C024273), polytetrafluoroethylene (MESH:D011138), O (MESH:D010100)
- **Species:** Solanum lycopersicum (tomato, species) [taxon 4081], Solanum melongena (aubergine, species) [taxon 4111], Capsicum annuum (sweet pepper, species) [taxon 4072], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606], Cucumis sativus (cucumber, species) [taxon 3659], Malus domestica (apple, species) [taxon 3750], Spinacia oleracea (spinach, species) [taxon 3562], Musa acuminata (banana, species) [taxon 4641], Pyrus communis (pear, species) [taxon 23211], Brassica oleracea (wild cabbage, species) [taxon 3712], Abelmoschus esculentus (lady's fingers, species) [taxon 455045]
- **Mutations:** His447)-glutamic acid, Ser203)-histidine
- **Cell lines:** UiO-66 — Mus musculus (Mouse), Malignant neoplasms of the mouse mammary gland, Cancer cell line (CVCL_9722)

## Figures

8 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12943667/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12943667