One Stone Two Birds: An Upconversion Nanosensor for Sensitive Detection of Fluoroquinolones in Aquatic Products Based on Chelation Recognition

Visible light-responsive enrofloxacin PEC aptasensor based on CN QDs sensitized Bi4O5Br2 nanosheets

BACKGROUND

The excessive application of enrofloxacin (ENR) results in residues contaminating both food and the environment. Consequently, developing robust analytical methods for the selective detection of ENR is crucial. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor has emerged as a highly sensitive analytical technique that has seen rapid development in recent years. The functioning of a PEC sensor relies on the reducing capacity of photogenerated electrons and the oxidizing capacity of photogenerated holes produced by the photoactive material. Bi4O5Br2 demonstrates its potential in electrochemical detection, but faces inherent challenges, including swift electron-hole recombination and slow carrier migration, which hinder its catalytic activity.

RESULTS

In this study, we synthesized carbon nitride quantum dots doped with Bi4O5Br2 (CN QDs/Bi4O5Br2) through an in situ growth method, utilizing this composite as a photoactive material. The incorporation of CN QDs leads to a 17-fold increase in photocurrent compared to Bi4O5Br2 alone. This enhancement is attributed not only to the improved separation of electron-hole pairs, facilitated by the CN QDs, which boosts photocatalytic activity, but also to the enlarged range of visible light absorption. We employed an ENR-specific aptamer as the recognition element, resulting in the construction of a high-performance photoelectrochemical aptasensor for ENR detection. The sensor exhibited a linear detection range of 1 × 10-1 to 1 × 106 ng mL-1 and a detection limit of 0.033 ng mL-1. The impressive performance of the CN QDs/Bi4O5Br2 sensing platform demonstrates its potential application in detecting ENR concentrations in food, biomedical contexts, and environmental analyses.

SIGNIFICANCE

Benefiting from the sensitization of CN QDs, CN QDs/Bi4O5Br2 exhibited 17-fold PEC signal of pure Bi4O5Br2. The presence of quantum dots in CN QDs/Bi4O5Br2 facilitates rapid separation of electron-hole pairs, leading to significantly enhanced PEC activity and improved detection performance for ENR. This research convincingly illustrates that integrating CN QDs with Bi4O5Br2 nanosheets could pave the way for designing more efficient bismuth-based semiconductor photoactive materials for sensing applications.

Study on the Electrochemiluminescence Emission Mechanism of HOF-14 and Its Multimode Sensing and Imaging Application

A novel hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HOF-14) has attracted much attention due to its excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity, but its research in the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) field has not been reported. In this work, the annihilation-type and coreactant-type ECL emission mechanisms of HOF-14 were studied systematically for the first time. It was found that the ECL quantum efficiency of HOF-14/TEA coreactant system was the highest, which was 1.82 times that of Ru(bpy)32+/TEA. Further, the ECL emission intensity of HOF-14/TEA system could achieve colorimetric (CL) imaging of mobile phone. We also discovered that HOF-14 had superior photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. Based on the above research results, a unique HOF-14-based multimode sensing and imaging platform was constructed. The antibiotic Enrofloxacin (ENR) was selected as the detection target, and the Cu-Zn bimetallic single-atom nanozyme (Cu-Zn/SAzyme) with excellent peroxidase (POD)-like activity was used to prepare quenching probes. When the target ENR was present, Cu-Zn/SAzyme quenching probes were introduced to the surface of HOF-14 by the dual-aptamer sandwich method. Cu-Zn/SAzyme could catalyze diaminobenzidine (DAB) to produce brown precipitations to quench the ECL, PEC, and CL signals of HOF-14, realizing multimode detection of ENR. This work not only discovered excellent ECL and PEC property of new HOF-14 material but also systematically studied the ECL emission mechanism of HOF-14, and proposed a novel multimode sensing and imaging platform, which greatly improved the detection accuracy of target and showed great contributions to the field of ECL analysis.

Wearable, Biocompatible, and Dual-Emission Ocular Multisensor Patch for Continuous Profiling of Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics in Tears

The abuse or misuse of antibiotics in clinical and agricultural settings severely endangers human health and ecosystems, which has raised profound concerns for public health worldwide. Trace detection and reliable discrimination of commonly used fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotics and their analogues have consequently become urgent to guide the rational use of antibiotic medicines and deliver efficient treatments for associated diseases. Herein, we report a wearable eye patch integrated with a quadruplex nanosensor chip for noninvasive detection and discrimination of primary FQ antibiotics in tears during routine eyedrop treatment. A set of dual-mode fluorescent nanoprobes of red- or green-emitting CdTe quantum dots integrated with lanthanide ions and a sensitizer, adenosine monophosphate, were constructed to provide an enhanced fluorescence up to 45-fold and nanomolar sensitivity toward major FQs owing to the aggregation-regulated antenna effect. The aggregation-driven, CdTe-Ln(III)-based microfluidic sensor chip is highly specific to FQ antibiotics against other non-FQ counterparts or biomolecular interfering species and is able to accurately discriminate nine types of FQ or non-FQ eyedrop suspensions using linear discriminant analysis. The prototyped wearable sensing detector has proven to be biocompatible and nontoxic to human tissues, which integrates the entire optical imaging modules into a miniaturized, smartphone-based platform for field use and reduces the overall assay time to ∼5 min. The practicability of the wearable eye patch was demonstrated through accurate quantification of antibiotics in a bactericidal event and the continuous profiling of FQ residues in tears after using a typical prescription antibiotic eyedrop. This technology provides a useful supplement to the toolbox for on-site and real-time examination and regulation of inappropriate daily drug use that might potentially lead to long-term antibiotic abuse and has great implications in advancing personal healthcare techniques for the regulation of daily medication therapy.

Signal Modulation Induced by a Hole Transfer Layer Participant Photoactive Gate: A Highly Sensitive Organic Photoelectrochemical Transistor Sensing Platform

It is urgent to pursue appropriate gate photoactive materials for gate-to-channel signal modulation to achieve superior transconductance performances of organic photoelectrochemical transistor (OPECT) sensors. Notably, a hole transfer layer (HTL) participant CdZnS/sulfur-doped Ti3C2 MXene (S-MXene) gate was designed and developed in this work, which exhibited a remarkable signal modulation performance by up to 3 orders of magnitude. Because of the incorporation of S-MXene with an enhanced electrical conductivity as the effective HTL, the signal modulation capabilities of the CdZnS/S-MXene photoactive gate were superior to those of CdZnS and CdZnS/MXene. This incorporation inhibited the recombination of the interfacial charge and facilitated the transfer of photogenerated holes, thus enhancing the photoelectric conversion performance. This enhancement facilitated fast electron transfer with a larger effective photovoltage to augment the dedoping ability of channel ions. Based on these findings, an aptasensing platform that exhibited good performance was constructed using the proposed OPECT device, with ofloxacin as a model target and an aptamer for specific recognition. The developed OPECT aptasensor had various advantages, including a high sensitivity, good linear range (1.0 × 10-13 to 1.0 × 10-6 M), and low limit of detection (3.3 × 10-15 M). This study provided a proof-of-concept for the generalized development of HTL participant gates for OPECT sensors and other related applications.

Multifunctional Metal-Organic Frameworks Driven Three-Dimensional Folded Paper-Based Microfluidic Analysis Device for Chlorpyrifos Detection

Chlorpyrifos (CPF) residues in food pose a serious threat to ecosystems and human health. Herein, we propose a three-dimensional folded paper-based microfluidic analysis device (3D-μPAD) based on multifunctional metal-organic frameworks, which can achieve rapid quantitative detection of CPF by fluorescence-colorimetric dual-mode readout. Upconversion nanomaterials were first coupled with a bimetal organic framework possessing peroxidase activity to create a fluorescence-quenched nanoprobe. After that, the 3D-μPAD was finished by loading the nanoprobe onto the paper-based detection zone and spraying it with a color-developing solution. With CPF present, the fluorescence intensity of the detection zone gradually recovers, the color changes from colorless to blue. This showed a good linear relationship with the concentration of CPF, and the limits of detection were 0.028 (fluorescence) and 0.043 (colorimetric) ng/mL, respectively. Moreover, the 3D-μPAD was well applied in detecting real samples with no significant difference compared with the high-performance liquid chromatography method. We believe it has huge potential for application in the on-site detection of food hazardous substance residues.

Integrating target-responsive microfluidic-based biosensing chip with smartphone for simultaneous quantification of multiple fluoroquinolones

The presence of fluoroquinolone (FQs) antibiotic residues in the food and environment has become a significant concern for human health and ecosystems. In this study, the background-free properties of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), the high specificity of the target aptamer (Apt), and the high quenching properties of graphene oxide (GO) were integrated into a microfluidic-based fluorescence biosensing chip (MFBC). Interestingly, the microfluidic channels of the MFBC were prepared by laser-printing technology without the need for complex preparation processes and additional specialized equipment. The target-responsive fluorescence biosensing probes loaded on the MFBC were prepared by self-assembly of the UCNPs-Apt complex with GO based on π-π stacking interactions, which can be used for the detection of the two FQs on a large scale without the need for multi-step manipulations and reactions, resulting in excellent multiplexed, automated and simultaneous sensing capabilities with detection limits as low as 1.84 ng/mL (enrofloxacin) and 2.22 ng/mL (ciprofloxacin). In addition, the MFBC was integrated with a smartphone into a portable device to enable the analysis of a wide range of FQs in the field. This research provides a simple-to-prepare biosensing chip with great potential for field applications and large-scale screening of FQs residues in the food and environment.

Fluorescent responsive membrane based on terbium coordination polymer and carbon dots with AIE effect for rapid and visual detection of fluoroquinolone

In this study, based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect and antenna effect, a novel portable fluorescent responsive membrane was constructed with red carbon dots (R-CDs) as reference signal and terbium coordination polymer (Tb-AMP CPs) as response signal for visual, instrument-free, and sensitive detection of fluoroquinolones (FQs). Specifically, the fluorescent responsive membrane (R-T membrane) was prepared by physically depositing R-CDs with AIE property and Tb-AMP CPs on the surface of polyvinylidene fluoride filter membranes at ambient temperature. In the presence of FQs, Tb3+ in the Tb-AMP CPs of the prepared membrane coordinated with the β-diketone structure of FQs, which turned on the yellow-green fluorescence through the "antenna effect". As the concentration of FQs increased, the R-T membrane achieved a fluorescent color transition from bright pink to yellow-green. Its visual detection sensitivity for three FQs, including ciprofloxacin, difloxacin, and enrofloxacin, was 0.01 μM, and the detection limits were 7.4 nM, 7.8 nM, and 9.2 nM, respectively, by analyzing the color parameter green. In the residue analysis of FQs in real samples, the constructed membrane also exhibited remarkable anti-interference and reliability, which is of great significance for ensuring the safety of animal-derived food.

Host-Guest Doping Modulated Afterglow Emission of Fluoroquinolones for Their Separation-Free Detection and Discrimination

Detection and discrimination of fluoroquinolones (FQs) are crucial for food safety but remain a formidable challenge due to their minor differences in molecular structures and the serious interferences from food matrices. Herein, we propose an afterglow assay for the detection and discrimination of FQs through modulating their room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties by a host-guest doping strategy. FQs were doped into the boric acid host, forming boronic anhydride structures and hydrogen bonds, which prompted the RTP and TADF performance of FQs by stabilizing their excited states, preventing triplet exciton quenching, and reducing the energy gap between singlet and triplet states. The FQs can be quantitatively detected through monitoring the afterglow intensity of host-guest systems, as low as 0.25 μg/mL. The differences in the afterglow intensity and emission lifetime allowed accurate discrimination of 11 types of FQs through pattern recognition methods. Aided by the delayed signal detection model of afterglow emission, the background signal and the interferences from food matrices were effectively eliminated, which endow the detection and discrimination of mixed FQs in commercial meat samples, without multiple-step separation processes.