Upcycling Bread Waste into a Ag-Doped Carbon Material Applied to the Detection of Halogenated Compounds in Waters

Bread waste is a major part of food wastage which could be upcycled to produce functional materials, following the principles of the circular bioeconomy. This work shows that bread waste can be recycled and valorized to produce a composite conductive material with excellent properties for chemical sensor applications. Here, dry bread is impregnated with an aqueous solution of a silver precursor and pyrolyzed to produce a porous carbon matrix containing Ag nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 20 to 40 nm. These particles perform as catalytic redox centers for the electrochemical detection of halide ions (Cl–, Br–, and I–) and organohalide target molecules such as sucralose and trichloroacetic acid. A thorough analytical characterization is carried out to show the potential application of the developed material for the manufacturing of electrochemical sensor approaches. The material preparation is sustainable, low-cost, simple, and upscalable. These are ideal features for the large-scale manufacturing by screen-printing technologies of single-use electrochemical sensors for the rapid analysis of halogenated organic pollutants in waters.