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Photoelectrochemical aptasensor for lead(II) by exploiting the CdS nanoparticle-assisted photoactivity of TiO2 nanoparticles and by using the quercetin-copper(II) complex as the DNA intercalator

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Abstract

A photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor for Pb(II) detection is described. A nanocomposite consisting of CdS (2.5 μm) and TiO2 nanoparticles (10 nm) was used as a photoactive material, and gold nanochains (Au NCs) as the support for immobilization of the Pb(II)-binding aptamer. The quercetin-copper(II) complex was further employed as the intercalator for the improvement of the photoactivity by embedding it into dsDNA. In the presence of Pb(II), a Pb(II)-stabilized G-quadruplex was formed between Pb(II) and DNA S1. This is accompanied by unwinding of the dsDNA and the release of the quercetin-copper(II) complex from the surface of the sensor. This results in a decrease of the photocurrent that drops linearly from 5.0 × 10−12 to 1.0 × 10−8 mol·L−1 Pb(II) concentration range with a detection limit of 1.6 × 10−12 mol·L−1. The method was applied to the determination of Pb(II) in various samples and gave satisfactory results.

A photoelectrochemical aptasensor was fabricated for the detection of Pb(II) based on CdS-TiO2 nanocomposite modified indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode. Gold nanochains (AuNCs) were used as anchor to immobilize the aptamers S1 and S2 that form a double helix structure by DNA hybridization. After embedding of quercetin-copper(II) complex as intercalator and electron donor, the concentrations of Pb(II) were determined by the changes of photocurrents.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21665007), Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (219QN207), and Key Science and Technology Program of Haikou City (2017042).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Treatment and Resource Reuse of Hainan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, People’s Republic of China

    Yanyan Niu, Guiling Luo, Hui Xie, Yujiao Zhuang, Xianqun Wu & Wei Sun

  2. Key Laboratory of Optic-Electric Sensing and Analytical Chemistry for Life Science of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, People’s Republic of China

    Guangjiu Li

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  1. Yanyan Niu
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  2. Guiling Luo
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Correspondence to Wei Sun.

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Niu, Y., Luo, G., Xie, H. et al. Photoelectrochemical aptasensor for lead(II) by exploiting the CdS nanoparticle-assisted photoactivity of TiO2 nanoparticles and by using the quercetin-copper(II) complex as the DNA intercalator. Microchim Acta 186, 826 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-019-3951-2

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