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Fluorescence Sensor for Zearalenone Detection Based on Oxidized Single-walled Carbon Nanohorns/N-doped Carbon Quantum Dots-aptamer

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Abstract

Zearalenone (ZEN), a resorcinolactone toxin, which has been a potential threat to agricultural production and human health. In this study, a sample and rapid fluorescence sensor was established for the detection of ZEN, which is based on the fluorescence properties of N-doped carbon dots-aptamer (NCDs-apt) and the quenching ability of oxidized single-walled carbon nanohorns (oxSWCNHs). NCDs synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method were connected with ZEN-aptamer (ZEN-apt), and oxSWCNHs were added to quench the fluorescence of NCDs-apt. Therefore, an oxSWCNHs/NCDs-apt aptasensor based on fluorescence “on-off” for the determination of ZEN in food was formed. Under optimum conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) of this method was 18 ng/mL and the linear range was 20 ~ 100 ng/mL. The possible interfering substances were investigated, and the results showed excellent selectivity. The recoveries were in the range of 99.5%~114.3%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were not more than 6.5%, which demonstrated that this aptasensor was successfully applied for the detection of ZEN in food samples with satisfactory result.

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Data Availability

Data available on request from the authors.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Youqing lift Program of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University (YQ202206) and the Middle-aged Backbone Personnel Training Program of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University (ZQN2016011).

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  1. Yue Na and Jiaxin Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road Shenhe District, Shenyang, 110016, Liaoning, P. R. China

    Yue Na, Jiaxin Zhang, Shunhua Zhang & Longshan Zhao

  2. School of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, 110016, Liaoning Province, China

    Ning Liang

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Contributions

Yue Na: Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing-original draft, Preparing revision. Jiaxin Zhang: Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing-original draft, Preparing revision. Shunhua Zhang: Data curation, Software. Ning Liang: Methodology, Supervision, Resources, Writing-review & editing. Longshan Zhao: Methodology, Supervision, Resources, Writing-review & editing.

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Na, Y., Zhang, J., Zhang, S. et al. Fluorescence Sensor for Zearalenone Detection Based on Oxidized Single-walled Carbon Nanohorns/N-doped Carbon Quantum Dots-aptamer. J Fluoresc (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-023-03466-y

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