According to the chemiluminescence characteristics of the luminol-hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) system, this work designed a novel and effective electrochemiluminescence (ECL) aptasensor to detect atrazine (ATZ) rapidly. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) could effectively catalyze the decomposition of H2O2 and enhance the ECL intensity of the luminol-H2O2 system. Once ATZ was modified on the aptasensor, the ECL intensity was significantly weakened because of the specific combination between ATZ and its aptamer. Therefore, the changes in ECL intensity could be used to detect the concentration of ATZ. Under optimal detecting conditions, the aptasensor had a wide linear range from 1 × 10-3 ng/mL to 1 × 103 ng/mL and a low limit of detection (3.3 × 10-4 ng/mL). The designed aptasensor had the advantages of good stability, reproducibility, and specificity. The aptasensor could be used to detect the ATZ content of tap water, soil, and cabbage and had satisfactory results. This work effectively constructs a novel, effective, and rapid ECL aptasensor for detecting ATZ in actual samples.
Keywords: aptasensor; atrazine; electrochemiluminescence; luminol; silver nanoparticles.