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A hierarchical cobalt/carbon nanotube hybrid nanocomplex-based ratiometric fluorescent nanosensor for ultrasensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose in human serum

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Abstract

Highly sensitive detection of H2O2 and glucose is critical for fundamental research and disease diagnosis. A ratiometric sensor can simultaneously afford two readout signals that provide an internally normalized response to change, thereby reducing false results and improving detection accuracy. A novel ratiometric fluorescent nanosensor for ultrasensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose was constructed on the basis of the peroxidase-like properties of a hierarchical cobalt/carbon nanotube hybrid nanocomplex (Co-CNT). The as-prepared Co-CNT catalyzes the transformation of the non-fluorescent Amplex Red (AR) into a fluorescent derivative and the transformation of fluorescent scopoletin (SC) into a non-fluorescent derivative in the presence of H2O2. The sensing system changes colour from yellow to blue, which can be clearly seen with the naked eye. With the fluorescence ratio of AR to SC as readout, the detection limit of H2O2 reaches as low as 100 nM. The developed assay is further utilized for determining H2O2-related oxidase reactions with the glucose and glucose oxidase system as model. Glucose can be selectively and sensitively detected as low as 150 nM. Satisfactory recoveries are obtained for glucose detection in serum samples. The developed assay is simple in terms of preparation and operation and provides a straightforward method for cost-effective and reliable detection of H2O2 and H2O2-related reactions in clinical diagnosis and biomedical applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21575138 and No. 21775108).

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Author notes

  1. Pengcheng Qian and Yingnan Qin contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety (Ministry of Education), College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China

    Pengcheng Qian, Yanlong Lyu, Yunfei Li & Yaqing Liu

  2. College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, China

    Yingnan Qin & Lei Wang

  3. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Food Science and Health, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Shuo Wang

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  1. Pengcheng Qian
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  2. Yingnan Qin
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  4. Yunfei Li
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  5. Lei Wang
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Correspondence to Shuo Wang or Yaqing Liu.

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Qian, P., Qin, Y., Lyu, Y. et al. A hierarchical cobalt/carbon nanotube hybrid nanocomplex-based ratiometric fluorescent nanosensor for ultrasensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose in human serum. Anal Bioanal Chem 411, 1517–1524 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-01573-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-01573-z

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