Enhanced electrochemiluminescence based on Ru(bpy)32+-doped silica nanoparticles and graphene composite for analysis of melamine in milk

Aptamer-modified paper-based analytical devices for the detection of food hazards: Emerging applications and future perspective

Food analysis plays a critical role in assessing human health risks and monitoring food quality and safety. Currently, there is a pressing need for a reliable, portable, and quick recognition element for point-of-care testing (POCT) to better serve the demands of on-site food analysis. Aptamer-modified paper-based analytical devices (Apt-PADs) have excellent characteristics of high portability, high sensitivity, high specificity, and on-site detection, which have been widely used and concerned in the field of food safety. The article reviews the basic components and working principles of Apt-PADs, and introduces their representative applications detecting food hazards. Finally, the advantages, challenges, and future directions of Apt-PADs-based sensing performance are discussed, to provide new directions and insights for researchers to select appropriate Apt-PADs according to specific applications.

An electrochemiluminescence sensor based on the CNTs and CdSe@ZnSe for determination of melamine in milk samples

In this work, a novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor based on the CdSe@ZnSe and CNTs was constructed for the detection of melamine. CdSe@ZnSe acted as the co-reaction promoter for the enhancement of Ru(bpy)32+/tri-n-propylamine (TPrA) system and CNTs acted as carriers to immobilize more CdSe@ZnSe. The initial ECL signal significantly amplified due to the synergistic effect of CNTs and CdSe@ZnSe. The ECL signal decreased with the addition of melamine, and the change value of ECL intensity (ΔI) was linearly related to the logarithm of melamine concentration. The constructed ECL sensor was able to detect melamine in the range of 1.0 × 10-11 - 1.0 × 10-7 M, and the detection limit was 3.3 × 10-12 M (S/N = 3). It can be used to detect melamine in milk samples.

The role of doping strategy in nanoparticle-based electrochemiluminescence biosensing

Doping plays a crucial role in electrochemiluminescence (ECL) due to the followings: (1) Modulation of electronic structure, alteration of the surface state of nanoparticles (NPs), providing effective protection from the surrounding environment, thereby leading to ECL emitters with exceptional properties including tunable spectra, high luminescence efficiency, low excitation potential, and good stability. (2) Employment of doped NPs as promising coreactant alternatives due to the presence of functional groups such as amines induced by NP doping. (3) Serving as novel co-reaction accelerators (CRAs) for ECL through doping induced high catalytic properties. (4) Behaving as excellent carriers to load ECL emitters, recognition elements, and catalysts due to doping-induced larger surface area, higher conductivity and better biocompatibility of NPs. As a consequence, doped NPs have aroused broad interest and found wide applications in various ECL sensing platforms. In this review, the current promising improvements, concepts, and excellent applications of doped NPs for ECL biosensing are addressed. We aim to bring to light the physicochemical characteristics of various doped NPs that endow them with appealing ECL performance, leading to diverse applications in biosensing.

Ultrasensitive self-enhanced electrochemiluminescence sensor based on novel PAN@Ru@PEI@Nafion nanofiber mat

A novel self-enhanced electrochemiluminescence nanofiber mat was for the first time prepared by one-step electrospinning a mixture of polyacrylonitrile, Ru(bpy)₃²⁺, poly(ethylenimine) and Nafion.

Coupling aptazyme and catalytic hairpin assembly for cascaded dual signal amplified electrochemiluminescence biosensing

Developing reliable and sensitive detection methods for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is vital for both clinical diagnosis and food safety. In this work, by coupling aptazyme- and catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA)-based signal amplification and electrochemiluminescence (ECL), an ultrasensitive biosensor for sensing ATP was fabricated using Ru(bpy)₃²⁺-doped silica nanoparticles (RuSiO₂) as ECL probes and a ferrocene-functionalized hairpin DNA (hairpin-Fc) as quencher. The aptazyme-triggered cleavage of the DNA substrate and the CHA reaction both led to the circular release of trigger DNA, resulting in a significant dual signal amplification, with unprecedented enhancement up to 940-fold. Moreover, the bioconjugation of the DNA substrate with Au@Fe₃O₄ facilitated the separation and purification of the released trigger DNA, and effectively reduced the background signal. As a result, the as-prepared ECL biosensor exhibited a much lower detection limit of 0.054 pM for ATP, compared to those in previous reports, and showed high reliability for ATP detection in both spiked serum samples and Staphylococcus aureus. This work offers a new perspective for designing nucleic acid-based signal amplification for detecting ATP in bacterial analysis and clinical diagnosis.

Visual and light scattering spectrometric method for the detection of melamine using uracil 5'-triphosphate sodium modified gold nanoparticles

A highly selective method was presented for colorimetric determination of melamine using uracil 5'-triphosphate sodium modified gold nanoparticles (UTP-Au NPs) in this paper. Specific hydrogen-bonding interaction between uracil base (U) and melamine resulted in the aggregation of AuNPs, displaying variations of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) features such as color change from red to blue and enhanced localized surface plasmon resonance light scattering (LSPR-LS) signals. Accordingly, the concentration of melamine could be quantified based on naked eye or a spectrometric method. This method was simple, inexpensive, environmental friendly and highly selective, which has been successfully used for the detection of melamine in pretreated liquid milk products with high recoveries.

A solid-state electrochemiluminescent sensor based on C60/graphite-like carbon nitride nanosheet hybrids for detecting melamine

Schematic illustration of preparing C₆₀/g-C₃N₄ NS and the fabricating procedures of the proposed ECL sensor.

Chemical sensors and biosensors for the detection of melamine

Melamine is an emerging contaminant in milk, infant formula and pet food.