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Cupric oxide nanosheet as an oxidase mimic for fluorescent detection of acetone by a 3D-printed portable device

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Abstract

A cupric oxide (CuO) nanosheet-based chemical fluorescence sensor was developed to realize the detection of acetone in aqueous solutions. CuO is an oxidase mimic and can catalyze the oxidation of o-phenylenediamine (OPD) to form 2,3-diaminophenazine (oxOPD). Interestingly, acetone was found to possess the scavenging ability for superoxide anions generated in the CuO-catalyzed oxidation system, hence weakening the OPD oxidation and leading to a reduction in the fluorescence intensity of the catalyzing system at 574 nm under excitation at 425 nm. Based on this property of acetone, a fluorescent sensor was constructed to detect acetone. The sensor exhibits a linear range of 1.35 to 2 × 105 µmol L–1 and a detection limit of 1.08 µmol L–1. Additionally, a smartphone-free portable device was constructed to realize on-the-spot and rapid detection of acetone in cauliflower, mineral water, tap water, and lake water samples. The recoveries by the portable device are 93.2 to 108% for actual samples, with relative standard deviations of less than 4.3%, indicating a potential application prospect of the device in on-site detection.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21675056).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Spectral Analysis and Functional Probes, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China

    Shuo Yang, Ruobo Chen & Li Jia

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Contributions

Shuo Yang: Investigation, Methodology, Writing-original draft. Ruobo Chen: Design and fabrication of the portable device. Li Jia: Funding acquisition, Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing-review & editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Li Jia.

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Yang, S., Chen, R. & Jia, L. Cupric oxide nanosheet as an oxidase mimic for fluorescent detection of acetone by a 3D-printed portable device. Microchim Acta 191, 122 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-024-06201-x

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