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Structure-switching Electrochemical Aptasensor for Singlestep and Specific Detection of Trace Mercury in Dairy Product Xinai Zhang, Chenyong Huang, Yanjuan Jiang, Yuxiang Jiang, Jianzhong Shen, and En Han J. Agric. Food Chem., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b03259 • Publication Date (Web): 05 Sep 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on September 12, 2018
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Structure-switching Electrochemical Aptasensor for Single-step and Specific
2
Detection of Trace Mercury in Dairy Product
3 4
Xinai Zhang,* Chenyong Huang, Yanjuan Jiang, Yuxiang Jiang, Jianzhong Shen, En Han
5
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, P.R. China
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
*Corresponding author: Dr. Xinai Zhang Tel: +86-511-88780201 E-mail:
[email protected] 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
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Abstract
35
A reagentless and single-step electrochemical aptasensor with separation-free fashion
36
and rapid response is developed for Hg2+ assay in dairy product. Herein, the sensing
37
strategy is established on Hg2+-induced structural transition of the methylene
38
blue-tagged single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) from flexible manner to rigid
39
hairpin-shaped double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), generating improved peak current for
40
Hg2+ assay with detection limit of 0.62 fM. Importantly, the best signal-to-noise ratio
41
value can be obtained by exploiting Au flowers as sensing material and the optimal
42
ssDNA concentration. The proposed sensor also exhibits high selectivity due to the
43
specific thymine-Hg2+-thymine (T-Hg2+-T) coordination chemistry, and can be applied
44
to detect Hg2+ in dairy product. With the use of the electric “signal-on” switch, the
45
electrochemical aptasensor has the advantages of simplicity, ease of operation, high
46
sensitivity and specificity, offering a promising method to assess the safety of dairy
47
product polluted with Hg2+.
48 49 50
Keywords
51
mercury ions, milk, electrochemical aptasensor, simplicity, structure-switching
52
2
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Introduction
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Dairy product is considered as highly valuable food due to its rich nutritional
55
components such as minerals, vitamins and protein. Unfortunately, owing to the
56
increasing content of environmental pollutants with the growth of urban, industrial
57
and agricultural discharges, dairy product is vulnerable to be polluted with heavy
58
metals in its production.1-3 According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
59
(USEPA), mercury is one of the most common heavy metals inducing pollution.4
60
Some investigations show that the presence of mercury even at low concentration
61
could disorder body mechanisms such as kidney failure, brain damage and
62
cardiovascular systems destruction.5-8 Therefore, it is essential to develop the
63
analytical techniques for effective monitoring of trace mercury in dairy product.
64
Up to now, some techniques have been reported for mercury assay in dairy
65
product, such as cold-vapor atomic fluorescence/absorption spectrometry,9 inductively
66
coupled plasma mass spectrometry,10,11 high-performance liquid chromatography,12
67
and sensing strategy.13-17 Compared with these analytical techniques, sensing strategy
68
has received extensive interest because of its rapid detection and tremendous
69
versatility. Consequently, several sensors were developed based upon electrochemistry,
70
colorimetry,
71
electrochemical sensor is well recognized as a powerful technique for mercury assay
72
due to its inherent simplicity, high sensitivity and excellent flexibility.
fluorescence,
photoelectrochemistry,
etc.18-23
Among
them,
73
As dairy product is present as complex matrix, it is an urgent task to enhance the
74
specificity and sensitivity of the electrochemical sensor for trace mercury detection. 3
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At present, aptamers, synthetic oligonucleotides (DNA or RNA) that bind to various
76
target molecules (metal ions, small molecules, proteins, cells, etc.) with high
77
affinity,24,25 have drawn particular interest in sensor design. Owing to their own merits
78
of low cost, specificity and stability,26-30 some aptasensors have been developed for
79
different types of bioassay of Hg2+ (one of most stable and universal inorganic forms
80
lying in mercury contamination).31 Especially, the formation of thymine-Hg2+-thymine
81
(T-Hg2+-T) coordination between Hg2+ and T-rich DNA strands is a widely used
82
approach for Hg2+ determination with good selectivity.32,33 Regarding sensitivity,
83
many attempts have been made in achieving signal amplification and signal output to
84
improve the detectability of the electrochemical sensing strategy. In this respect,
85
redox-labels including methylene blue (MB) and ferrocene (Fc) are considered as
86
promising tags for signal output due to their easy chemical modification and
87
convenient redox potential.34-37 Meanwhile, nanomaterials that are utilized as sensing
88
platform for electrode modification play a crucial role in promoting electron transfer
89
for signal amplification.38-41 Recently, various electrochemical sensors have been
90
developed to significantly facilitate Hg2+ analysis based on nanomaterials and
91
T-Hg2+-T base pairs.42,43 Although sensitive and selective, some of the protocols
92
require multiple washing steps and operations, possibly affecting the reproducibility
93
and stability of the sensors.
94
In response to the shortcomings, we report here an electrochemical aptasensor
95
for single-step detection of Hg2+ in dairy product by utilizing T-Hg2+-T complex
96
without multiple operations and labeling combination. The sensing strategy is simply 4
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established on Hg2+-induced structural transition of MB-labeled single-stranded DNA
98
(ssDNA) from flexible manner to rigid hairpin-shaped double-stranded DNA
99
(dsDNA), which shortens the distance between MB tags and the electrode surface and
100
thus generates improved peak current.35 Moreover, with the use of Au flowers-sensing
101
platform and the optimal ssDNA concentration, the best signal-to-noise ratio can be
102
achieved to improve the sensor performance. When compared with other sensors
103
based on Au flowers,44,45 the proposed aptasensor provides a signal enhancement
104
platform to facilitate high sensitivity. On basis of the electric “signal-on” switch and
105
the specific T-Hg2+-T coordination chemistry, the electrochemical aptasensor can
106
achieve separation-free, simple, selective and sensitive assay of Hg2+, offering a
107
promising tool for Hg2+ analysis in dairy product.
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Materials and Methods
109
Chemicals and Materials. Mercury nitrate (Hg(NO3)2), 6-mercapto-hexanol
110
(MCH), Tris (2-carboxyethy) phosphine hydrochloride (TCEP) and Nafion were
111
obtained from Sigma-Aldrich. The Hg2+-target ssDNA labeled with 5'-SH and 3'-MB
112
was provided by Sangon Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China). The sequences
113
were given as follows: 5'-SH-(CH2)6-TTCTTTCTTCGCGTTGTTTGTT-MB-3'.
114
Chloroauric acid (HAuCl4·4H2O), dopamine (DA) and other chemical reagents were
115
obtained from Shanghai Sinopharm Inc. (Shanghai, China). 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer
116
(pH 7.0, containing140 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl2 and 5 mM KCl) was utilized as
117
buffer solution. Hexaammine ruthenium(III) chloride (Ru(NH3)6Cl3, RuHeX) was
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supplied by Sinocompound Catalysts Co. Ltd. Fresh milk was obtained from 5
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Changjiang Dairy Co., Ltd. (Zhenjiang, China). All chemicals were of
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analytical-reagent grade. Pure water obtained from Millipore (Milli-Q, 18.2 MΩ·cm)
121
was used to prepare all solutions.
122
Apparatus. A CHI630D workstation (Shanghai CH Instrument Co., China)
123
consisting of a saturated calomel reference electrode (SCE), the modified glassy
124
carbon working electrode (GCE, 3 mm in diameter) and a platinum wire auxiliary
125
electrode was utilized to perform cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave
126
voltammetric (SWV) measurements. The morphology of the prepared nanomaterials
127
was characterized by S-4800 scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Hitachi Co., Ltd.,
128
Tokyo, Japan).
129
Au flowers’ Fabrication. The preparation of Au flowers were as follows.44
130
Firstly, 1% HAuCl4 (100 µL) was added to the mixture solution (1 mL) of 20 mM DA
131
and 20 µL of 0.5% Nafion with stirring for 60 min at room temperature until the color
132
became light red. Subsequently, the resulting solution was purified by centrifuging for
133
10 min at 10,000 rpm to obtain Au flowers. After centrifugal cleaning three times with
134
pure water, the precipitate was dispersed in pure water (1 mL) and kept at 4 °C until
135
use.
136
Preparation of the ssDNA/Au/GCE Aptasensor. The working electrode of
137
GCE was first treated with alumina of different particle sizes (0.3 and 0.05 µm), and
138
then the polished electrode was sonicated in acetone, HNO3 (1:1 v/v), NaOH (50%
139
w/w) and water. Subsequently, Au flowers (10 µL) were dropped onto a pretreated
140
GCE and then dried under infrared light to achieve Au/GCE. When the Au/GCE was 6
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utilized to immobilize T-rich ssDNA, it should be kept clean by rinsing with pure
142
water and drying with nitrogen. Additionally, the sensing platform including
143
PDA-AuNPs/GCE, AuNPs/GCE and PDA/GCE were also prepared to perform the
144
control experiments (PDA: polydopamine, AuNPs: Au nanoparticles). In detail, the
145
bare GCE was immersed in the mixture solution of 20 mM DA and 20 mM HAuCl4,
146
and then 20 cycles of CV measurements were performed between −0.9 and +1.0 V
147
under a scan rate of 20 mV s−1. As a result, the PDA-AuNPs/GCE was fabricated after
148
thoroughly rinsed with water. Using the same method, AuNPs/GCE and PDA/GCE
149
were also prepared for the following assay.
150
Prior to electrode functionalization, Hg2+-target DNA strands were introduced
151
into TCEP (5 mM) in a centrifuge tube, and then reacted for 1 h to reduce the formed
152
disulfide. Subsequently, the mixture was dissolved in Tris-HCl buffer (20 mM, pH 7.0)
153
to obtain 1.0 µM final concentration. Next, 10 µL of ssDNA (1.0 µM) was placed
154
onto the Au/GCE electrode for 4 h at 4 °C to achieve the ssDNA/Au/GCE. After
155
being carefully rinsed with Tris-HCl buffer, the ssDNA-modified Au/GCE was
156
passivated with MCH (10 µL) for 1 h to reduce nonspecific binding effects.
157
Electrochemical Measurement. The ssDNA/Au/GCE was incubated with Hg2+
158
standard solutions or real samples for 1 h at room temperature to form specific
159
T-Hg2+-T complex. After being rinsed with Tris-HCl buffer, the obtained electrode
160
was then subjected to SWV measurements with the potential window from −0.50 to 0
161
V under a step potential of 4 mV, a frequency of 10 Hz, and an apmplitude of 25 mV.
162
Results and Discussion 7
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Mechanism of Electrochemical Sensing Strategy. Figure 1 illustrates the
164
structure of the Hg2+-target ssDNA strands and the application of these DNA strands
165
for single-step electrochemical assay of Hg2+. The T-rich ssDNA strands are
166
composed of the thiol portion (−SH, 5') and MB portion (3'), in which the thiol part
167
anchors the strands on Au flowers-modified GCE (Au/GCE) via Au-S bond, while
168
MB portion as redox label is responsible to generate signal output for Hg2+ detection.
169
The ssDNA strands remain in a flexible manner without Hg2+, and the MB labeled at
170
the distal end is far away from the underlying electrode. Consequently, the redox MB
171
tags can’t effectively exchange electrons with the electrode, producing low
172
electrochemical
173
ssDNA/Au/GCE sensor, the target Hg2+ triggers the structural transition of the flexible
174
aptamer to form a rigid dsDNA via chemical coordination of T-Hg2+-T. As a result, the
175
collisions between the MB tags and the sensor surface increase significantly, leading
176
to enhanced current response of MB (ON state). The current increase is related to
177
Hg2+-induced conformational changes of MB-labeled DNA strands, and thus reflects
178
target Hg2+ concentration in the samples.
signals
(OFF
state).
When
Hg2+
is
incubated
with
the
179
Characteristics of Au Flowers as Sensing Platform. The morphology of Au
180
flowers is characterized using SEM (Figure 2A). As can be seen, Au flowers present
181
flower-like shapes. The forming reason of flower-like structure is due to the fact that
182
nafion acts as the template for AuCl4− reduction and nucleation.
183
To evaluate the advantages of Au flowers over other conventional materials, four
184
different modified electrodes containing Au/GCE, PDA-AuNPs/GCE, AuNPs/GCE 8
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and PDA/GCE are applied to the sensor design for 1 nM Hg2+ detection. The
186
evaluation is based on monitoring the signal-to-noise ratio (i/i0, the letter i and i0
187
represent current response with the presence and absence of Hg2+ respectively) of the
188
different sensors.
189
As shown in Figure 2B, Au/GCE exhibits similar SWV peak current to that of
190
PDA-AuNPs/GCE, AuNPs/GCE and PDA/GCE in the absence of Hg2+. This is
191
probably due to the ssDNA structure in a flexible manner that inhibits electron
192
exchange between MB tags and different sensing surfaces. However, Au/GCE
193
exhibits the best SWV peak current with presence of Hg2+, producing the highest i/i0
194
value. The reason might be due to the fact that Au flowers could provide large surface
195
area to load more MB-labeled ssDNA and also have good conductivity to rapid
196
electron transfer rate. The experimental results demonstrate that Au flowers as sensing
197
material can provide obvious superiority over PDA-AuNPs, AuNPs or PDA in
198
electrochemical performance and possess the ability to improve sensitivity.
199
In order to elucidate that, the electro-active surface area of Au flowers-modified
200
GCE is quantitatively detected by recording cyclic voltammetric curves (CVs) (Figure
201
2C). The CV measurements are performed by utilize [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− as redox probes
202
under different potential scan rates. The electro-active surface area of Au/GCE is
203
calculated to be 11.602 mm2 according to the Randles-Sevcik equation:46-48
204
𝑖 = 2.69 × 105 𝐴𝐷1/2 𝑛3/2 𝑣 1/2 𝐶
(1)
205
in which i refers to the redox peak current, A is the electrode area, D represents the
206
diffusion coefficient (at 25 °C, D=6.70×10−6 cm2 s−1), n is the number of electrons
207
transferred in the redox reaction (n=1), v is the scan rate of the CV measurement and 9
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C is the concentration of the reactant (5 mM Fe(CN)63−/4−). This demonstrates that Au
209
flowers-modified GCE has a larger electro-active surface area in comparison with the
210
bare GCE surface area (7.065 mm2).
211
Optimization of Immobilization Concentration of ssDNA. The effect of the
212
immobilization concentration of ssDNA on the i/i0 value is evaluated to obtain best
213
aptasensor performance. With increasing the ssDNA concentration, the background
214
current increases gradually because of the increasing number of ssDNA loading on the
215
Au/GCE (Figure 3A). With the presence of Hg2+, the concentration of ssDNA at 1.0
216
µM displays the maximum response and produces the highest i/i0 value, which is due
217
to the fact that the combination possibility between the flexible ssDNA and Hg2+
218
decreases at a lower concentration, while a higher concentration partially inhibits the
219
binding because of the steric hindrance resulting from the immobilized ssDNA with
220
higher surface densities. Therefore, 1.0 µM ssDNA is used to prepare the aptasensor.
221
Additionally, the effects of pH condition, incubation time and temperature between
222
ssDNA and Hg2+ on detecting efficiency are also investigated. According to the
223
experimental results (Figure S1), the incubation of the immobilized ssDNA with Hg2+
224
in pH 7.0 Tris-HCl buffer for 60 min at room temperature is selected for the formation
225
of the specific T-Hg2+-T complex.
226
Meanwhile, the density of ssDNA on Au/GCE surface is measured by the
227
chronocoulometric method and the result is shown in Figure 3B. According to the
228
Cottrell’s equations49,50 listed below, the surface density of the ssDNA on Au/GCE
229
surface is calculated to be 2.77×1012 molecules per cm2. 10
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𝑄𝑠𝑠𝐷𝑁𝐴 −𝑄𝑀𝐶𝐻
230
𝛤𝑅𝑢 =
231
𝛤𝑠𝑠𝐷𝑁𝐴 = 𝛤𝑅𝑢 (𝑧/𝑚)𝑁𝐴
(2)
𝑛𝐹𝐴
(3)
232
where ΓRu is the amount of the redox marker restricted near the sensing surface
233
(mol/cm2), QssDNA and QMCH are the surface charges (C), n represents the electron
234
number in the reaction, F refers to the Faraday constant, A is the Au/GCE area (cm2),
235
ΓssDNA is the surface density of DNA, z represents the charge of the redox marker, m is
236
the base numbers in DNA, and NA represents Avogadro’s number.
237
Hg2+ Analysis. Under the optimized experimental parameters, the proposed
238
aptasensor is utilized to detect Hg2+ with different concentrations in Tris-HCl buffer.
239
As seen in Figure 4A, the peak current increases gradually with the increasing Hg2+
240
concentration. The Δi linearly depends on the logarithm of Hg2+ concentration ranging
241
from 1 fM to 1 nM (R2=0.994) (Inset). The limit of detection (LOD) corresponding to
242
S/N of 3σ is 0.62 fM. The LOD of the proposed sensor is better or comparable to the
243
other methods reported previously.25,31-33,42,43 Additionally, when compared with the
244
DNA sensors based on Au nanomaterials,51,52 the proposed aptasensor can achieve the
245
improvement of electrochemical performance, which is ascribed to Au flowers as
246
sensing platform and the “signal-on” format with increased signal gain.
247
Selectivity, Reproducibility and Stability. In order to evaluate the selectivity of
248
the aptasensor, Pb2+, Ca2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, K+ and Na+ are selected as the possible existing
249
metal ions to be analyzed. As seen in Figure 4B, the incubation of the control metal
250
ions (10 nM, 10 times Hg2+ concentration) respectively with the aptasensor has no
251
obvious difference in current response in comparison to that of the blank assay
11
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(without Hg2+). However, the existence of only Hg2+ leads to an obvious increase in
253
current response relative to other interfering substrates. Besides, the aptasensor is
254
employed for Hg2+ detection in the coexistence of other metals. When other metal ion
255
is introduced into Hg2+ solution, there is almost no effect on the current response for
256
Hg2+ assay (Figure 4C). The results demonstrate that the specificity of the present
257
work is acceptable, which is ascribed to the excellent selectivity of thymine base
258
toward Hg2+ to form the strong T-Hg2+-T complex.
259
Furthermore, the reproducibility of the aptasensor is evaluated by using six
260
prepared electrodes to analyze 0.01 nM Hg2+. Under the same conditions, the relative
261
standard deviation (RSD) of the determination is 7.6% (n=6) with the six electrodes,
262
indicating good reproducibility of the sensor. In addition, the long-term stability of the
263
proposed
264
ssDNA/Au/GCE-based aptasensor at 4 °C and assessing every 2~3 days. After a
265
longer storage for 10 days, the SWV peak current could remain 92.6% of the initial
266
value, indicative of good stability.
aptasensor
is
evaluated
on
a
20-d
period
by
storing
the
267
Real-sample Analysis. The developed method is utilized for Hg2+ assay in pure
268
fresh milk to investigate the practical application of the aptasensor. The dairy product
269
samples is prepared as follows: 0.10 mL milk is dissolved into 10 mL pH 7.0 Tris-HCl
270
buffer, and then 10 fM, 100 fM, 1 pM, 10 pM and 100 pM concentration of Hg2+ is
271
respectively spiked into milk under stirring. Subsequently, the as-prepared samples
272
are analyzed by utilizing the standard addition method and the results are exhibited in
273
Table 1. As can be seen, the obtained recoveries range from 88.6% to 115.2%, 12
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indicative of the favorable reliability of the electrochemical strategy.
275
Moreover, in comparison with SWV current response for the analysis of 10 fM
276
Hg2+ only (Figure 5A,C), there is no obvious difference of peak current for 10 fM
277
Hg2+ assay in the sample matrices (containing mineral, protein, fat, vitamins,
278
microorganisms, etc.) of pure fresh milk (Figure 5B,D). The results demonstrate that
279
the exhibiting interferences have no remarkable effect on Hg2+ determination,
280
indicative of the suitability of the aptasensor for Hg2+ assay in dairy product.
281
In conclusion, in the current study, the electrochemical sensor is proposed for
282
Hg2+ assay on basis of the formation of specific T-Hg2+-T coordination chemistry and
283
the structural transition of the MB-labeled ssDNA with T-rich sequence. Compared
284
with the conventional aptasensors for Hg2+ assay, the developed strategy could
285
achieve greatly enhanced sensitivity due to the use of Au flowers as sensing platform
286
and the electric “signal-on” switch with increased signal gain. Overall, the
287
electrochemical aptasensor gives a useful protocol with simplicity, excellent
288
sensitivity and selectivity, and provides a valuable tool for evaluating trace mercury in
289
dairy product.
290
Acknowledgements
291
We would like to thank the technicians in Yangzhou University for their help in
292
nanomaterial characterization.
293
Funding source
294
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
295
(21205051), and Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of 13
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Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (1033000006).
297
Supporting Information. Optimization of pH condition, incubation time and
298
temperature between ssDNA and Hg2+ supplied as Supporting Information.
299
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Figure captions
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Figure 1. Illustration of the single-step and specific detection of Hg2+ by using Au
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flowers-based electrochemical aptasensor. Lower left: conformational change of
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single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) upon binding to Hg2+.
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Figure 2. (A) Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of Au flowers. Inset: The
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photograph for color change of the mixture of 1% HAuCl4, 20 mM dopamine (DA)
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and 0.5% Nafion before (a) and after (b) stirring for 1 h, and the resulting Au flowers
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dispersed in deionized water (c). (B) Comparison of the signal to noise ratio (i/i0, i
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and i0, respectively, correspond to the square wave voltammetric (SWV) peak current
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with the presence and absence of Hg2+) of the sensor for 1 nM Hg2+ detection based
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on different sensing platform: Au/GCE, PDA-AuNPs/GCE, AuNPs/GCE and
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PDA/GCE. (C) CV of Au flowers-modified GCE in 5 mM [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− at different
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scan rates from 10 to 250 mV s−1. Insets show the linear relations of the Au
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flowers-modified GCE with the anodic and cathodic peak current against the square
492
root of scan rate.
493 494
Figure 3. (A) Effects of the immobilization concentration of ssDNA on signal to
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noise ratio (i/i0, i and i0, respectively, correspond to the SWV peak current with the
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presence and absence of Hg2+) of the sensor for 1 nM Hg2+ detection based on
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Au/GCE as sensing platform. (B) Chronocoulometric curves for Au/GCE modified
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with (a) 6-mercapto-hexanol (MCH)/ssDNA and (b) MCH in 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer 23
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(pH 7.0) with the presence of 50 µM hexaammine ruthenium(III) chloride (RuHex).
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Redox charges of RuHex confined near the electrode surface are obtained from
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chronocoulometric intercepts at t=0.
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Figure 4. (A) SWV responses for the sensor toward different concentrations of Hg2+
504
(a) blank, (b) 1 fM, (c) 10 fM, (d) 100 fM, (e) 1 pM, (f) 10 pM, (g) 100 pM, (h) 1 nM
505
(Inset: corresponding calibration curves). The specificity of the electrochemical
506
sensor toward 1 nM Hg2+ against 10 nM Pb2+, 10 nM Ca2+, 10 nM Cu2+, 10 nM Cd2+
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10 nM K+ and 10 nM Na+: (B) for individual metal ion alone and (C) Hg2+ +
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co-existed metal ion.
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Figure 5. The electrochemical aptasensor was used for the assay of (A,C) 10 fM Hg2+
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only and (B,D) 10 fM Hg2+ in sample matrices of pure fresh milk, respectively.
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Table 1. Determination Results and Recoveries of Pure Fresh Milk Samples
a
sample
detected
spiked
founda
recovery
no.
(pM)
(pM)
(pM)±SD
(%)
1
no detected
0.01
0.0108±0.0006
108
2
no detected
0.1
0.0886±0.0030
88.6
3
no detected
1.0
0.9570±0.0560
95.7
4
no detected
10
9.020±0.5520
90.2
5
no detected
100
115.2±5.484
115.2
Number of samples analyzed was 5.
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Figure 1
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Figure 3
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Figure 5
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