Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Carbon dots prepared from Litchi chinensis and modified with manganese dioxide nanosheets for use in a competitive fluorometric immunoassay for aflatoxin B1

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Microchimica Acta Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An enzyme-linked immunoassay is described for the fluorometric determination of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). It is based on the use of carbon dots (CDs) synthesized by using Litchi chinensis as the carbon source via a hydrothermal method. The CDs were modified with MnO2 nanosheets upon which their blue fluorescence (with excitation/emission peaks at 340/425 nm) is quenched. In the presence of AFB1, a competitive immunoreaction takes place between (1) AFB1 conjugated to bovine serum albumin and deposited in the wells of a microplate, and (2) antibody against AFB1 and labeled with alkaline phosphatase (ALP). On subsequent addition of ascorbic acid 2-phosphate, it will be hydrolyzed by ALP to form ascorbic acid and phosphate. The ascorbic acid produced reduces MnO2 nanosheets to Mn2+ ions which then are relased from the CDs. This causes the recovery of fluorescence. Under optimum conditions, fluorescence decreases linearly with increasing AFB1 concentration in the range from 1.0 ng·kg−1 to 10 μg·kg−1, and the limit of detection is 0.69 ng·kg−1. The precision of this method (expressed as RSD) is ±10.3%. The accuracy was tested by analyzing both naturally contaminated and spiked food samples, and the results were in good agreement with those obtained by the established ELISA.

Enzyme hydrolysate-triggered redox reaction of carbon dot-functionalized MnO2 nanosheets was developed for the fluorescence immunoassay of aflatoxin B1 in foodstuff.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Scheme 1
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lim S, Shen W, Gao Z (2015) Carbon quantum dots and their applications. Chem Soc Rev 44:362–381

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Fu L, Wang A, Lai G, Lin C, Yu J, Yu A, Liu Z, Xie K, Su W (2018) A glassy carbon electrode modified with N-doped carbon dots for improved detection of hydrogen peroxide and paracetamol. Microchim Acta 185:87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Rong M, Deng X, Chi S, Huang L, Zhou Y, Shen Y, Chen X (2018) Ratiometric fluorometric determination of the anthrax biomarker 2,6-dipicolinic acid by using europium(III)-doped carbon dots in a test stripe. Microchim Acta 185:201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Ma H, Liu X, Wang X, Li X, Yang C, Iqbal A, Liu W, Li J, Qin W (2017) Sensitive fluorescent light-up probe for enzymatic determination of glucose using carbon dots modified with MnO2 nanosheets. Microchim Acta 184:177–185

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Sun Y, Wang X, Wang C, Tong D, Wu Q, Jiang K, Jiang Y, Wang C (2018) Red emitting and highly stable carbon dots with dual response to pH values and ferric ions. Microchim Acta 185:83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Hu L, Zhang Q, Gan X, Lin S, Han S, Zhang Z (2018) Fluorometric turn-on determination of the activity of alkaline phosphatase by using WS2 quantum dots and enzymatic cleavage of ascorbic acid 2-phosphate. Microchim Acta 185:390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Mohammadi S, Salimi A (2018) Fluorometric determination of microRNA-155 in cancer cells based on carbon dots and MnO2 nanosheets as a donor acceptor pair. Microchim Acta 185:372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Shu J, Tang D (2017) Current advances in quantum dots-based photoelectrochemical immunoassays. Chem Asian J 12:2780–2789

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Das R, Bandyopadhyay R, Pramanik P (2018) Carbon quantum dots from natural resource: a review. Mat Today Chem 8:96–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Goryacheva I, Sapelkin A, Sukhorukov G (2017) Carbon nanodots: mechanisms of photoluminescence and principles of application. TrAC-Anal Chem 90:27–37

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sun X, Lei Y (2017) Fluorescent carbon dots and their sensing applications. TrAC Anal Chem 89:163–180

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Wang Y, Zhu Y, Yu S, Jiang C (2017) Fluorescent carbon dots: rational synthesis, tunable optical properties and analytical applications. RSC Adv 7:40973–40989

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Zhou J, Booker C, Li R, Zhou X, Sham T, Sun X, Ding Z (2007) An electrochemical avenue to blue luminescent nanocrystals from multiwalled carbon nanotubers (MWCNTs). J Am Chem Soc 129:744–745

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Yang H, He L, Long Y, Li H, Pan S, Liu H, Hu X (2018) Fluorescent carbon dots synthesized by microwave-assisted pyrolysis of chromium(VI) and ascorbic acid sensing and logic gate operation. Spectrochim Acta A 205:12–20

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Amin N, Afkhami A, Hosseinzadeh L, Madrakian T (2018) Green and cost-effective synthesis of carbon dots from date kernel and their application as a novel switchable fluorescence probe for sensitive assay of Zoledronic acid in human serum and cellular imaging. Anal Chim Acta 1030:183–193

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Ahmadian-Fard-Fini S, Salavati-Niasari M, Ghanbari D (2018) Green synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4-carbon dots by lemon and grape fruit extracts and as a photoluminescescence sensor for detecting of E. Coli bacteria. Spectrochim Acta A 203:481–493

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Anmei S, Qingmei Z, Yuye C, Yilin W (2018) Preparation of carbon quantum dots from cigarette filters and its application for fluorescence detection of Sudan I. Anal Chim Acta 1023:115–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Nutrient contents for Litchis, raw, per 100 g, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2013

  19. Pierre B, Stephane G, Annick B, Laure D, Augustin S, Louise M, Nathalie A, Marie J (2006) Daily polyphenol intake in France from fruit and vegetables. J Nutrition 136:2368–2373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lin Y, Zhou Q, Zeng Y, Tang D (2018) Liposome-coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with L-cysteine for photoelectrochemical immunoassay of aflatoxin B1. Microchim Acta 185:311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Zu F, Yan F, Bai Z, Xu J, Wang Y, Huang Y, Zhou X (2017) The quenching of the fluorescence of carbon dots: a review on mechanisms and applications. Microchim Acta 184:1899–1914

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Hermanson G, Bioconjugate Techniques, 2nd Ed., Pierce Biotechnology, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Rockford Illiois, USA, pp.798–799

  23. Chaudhary V, Bhowmick A (2015) Green synthesis of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles from lychee (Litchi chinensis) plant. Korean J Chem Eng 32:1707–1711

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Lin Y, Zhou Q, Tang D, Niessner R, Knopp D (2017) Signal-on photoelectrochemical immunoassay for aflatoxin B1 based on enzymatic product-etching MnO2 nanosheets for dissociation of carbon dots. Anal Chem 89:5637–5645

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Yu Z, Lv S, Ren R, Cai G, Tang D (2017) Photoelectrochemical sensing of hydrogen peroxide at zero working potential using a fluorine-doped tin oxide electrode modified with BiVO4 microrods. Microchim Acta 184:799–806

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Wang D, Lin B, Cao Y, Guo M, Yu Y (2016) A highly selective and sensitive fluorescence detection method of glyphosate based on an immune reaction strategy of carbon dot labeled antibody and antigen magnetic beads. J Agric Food Chem 64:6042–6050

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Lin Y, Zhou Q, Lin Y, Tang D, Niessner R, Knopp D (2015) Enzymatic hydrolysate-induced displacement reaction with multifunctional silica beads doped with horseradish peroxidase thionine conjugate for ultrasensitive electrochemical immunoassay. Anal Chem 87:8531–8540

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lin Y, Zhou Q, Tang D, Niessner R, Yang H, Knopp D (2016) Silver nanolabels-assisted ion-exchange reaction with CdTe quantum dots mediated exciton trapping for signal-on photoelectrochemical immunoassay of mycotoxins. Anal Chem 88:7858–7866

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Taghdisi S, Danesh N, Ramezani M, Abnous K (2018) A new amplified fluorescent aptasensor based on hairpin structure of G-quadruplex oligonucleotide-aptamer chimera and silica nanoparticles for sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1 in the grape juice. Food Chem 268:342–346

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Zhang Y, Liao Z, Liu Y, Wang Y, Chang J, Wang H (2017) Flow cytometric immunoassay for aflatoxin B1 using magnetic microspheres encoded with upconverting fluorescent nanocrystals. Microchim Acta 184:1471–1479

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Pan D, Li G, Hu H, Xue H, Zhang M, Zhu M, Gong X, Zhang Y, Wan Y, Shen Y (2018) Direct immunoassay for facile and sensitive detection of small molecule aflatoxin B1. Chem Eur J 24:9869–9876

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Wang C, Qian J, An K, Ren C, Lu X, Hao N, Liu Q, Li H, Huang X, Wang K (2018) Fabrication of magnetically assembled aptasensing device for label-free determination of aflatoxin B1 based on EIS. Biosens Bioelectron 108:69–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Lai W, Zeng Q, Tang J, Zhang M, Tang D (2018) A conventional chemical reaction for use in an unconventional assay: a colorimetric immunoassay for aflatoxin B1 by using enzyme-responsive just-in-time generation of a MnO2 based nanocatalyst. Microchim Acta 185:92

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos.: 21475025, 21675029 and 21874022), and the Chongqing Science & Technology Commission of China (Grant no.: CSTC2015JCYJBX0126 and CSTC2016SHMSZX20001) is gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Environmental Materials & Remediation Technologies, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, People’s Republic of China

    Dianping Tang

  2. MOE Key Laboratory for Analytical Science of Food Safetyand Biology, Department of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, People’s Republic of China

    Dianping Tang, Youxiu Lin & Qian Zhou

  3. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Modern Analytical Science and Separation Technology, College of Chemistry and Environment, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou, 363000, People’s Republic of China

    Youxiu Lin

  4. Institute of Environmental and Analytical Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, People’s Republic of China

    Qian Zhou

Authors
  1. Dianping Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Youxiu Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Qian Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dianping Tang or Qian Zhou.

Ethics declarations

The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 149 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tang, D., Lin, Y. & Zhou, Q. Carbon dots prepared from Litchi chinensis and modified with manganese dioxide nanosheets for use in a competitive fluorometric immunoassay for aflatoxin B1. Microchim Acta 185, 476 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-3012-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-3012-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation