Ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for uranium using deoxyribozymes with amplification by gold nanoparticles

Abstract

A novel highly sensitive and specific electrochemical biosensor for detecting uranium based on specific Deoxyribozymes and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is reported. In this work, AuNPs provide excellent electrochemical signal transduction and a large surface area for immobilising numerous Deoxyribozymes, so a low detection limit of 3.24 ng L⁻¹ uranium and a good linear relationship over the range 5.94–35.1 ng L⁻¹ (r = 0.994) were obtained. The proposed biosensor presents high specificity and selectivity for uranium and is not affected by other metal ions. Thus, the biosensor protocol offers good selectivity, rapid speed and operational convenience for detection uranium in liquid waste.

Keywords:

• deoxyribozymes
• electrochemical biosensor
• gold nanoparticle
• uranium

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Natural Science Foundation of China (No.11375084) and Science and Technology Program of Hunan Province in China (No. 2014FJ6097)