A facile and sensitive electrochemical aptamer sensor (aptasensor) based on Au nanoparticles-decorated porous carbon (AuNPs/PC) composite was developed for the efficient determination of the antibiotic drug chloramphenicol (CAP). AuNPs modified metal-organic framework (AuNPs/ZIF-8) is applied as a precursor to synthesize the porous carbon with homogeneous AuNPs distribution through a direct carbonization step under nitrogen atmosphere. The as-synthesized AuNPs/PC exhibits high surface area and improved conductivity. Moreover, the loading AuNPs could enhance the attachment of the aptamers on the surface of electrode through the Au-S bond. When added to CAP, poorly conductive aptamer-CAP complexes are formed on the sensor surface, which increases the hindrance to electron transfer resulting in a decrease in electrochemical signal. Based on this mechanism, the developed CAP aptasensor represents a wide linear detection range of 0.1 pM to 100 nM with a low detection limit of 0.03 pM (S/N = 3). In addition, the proposed aptasensor was employed for the analysis of CAP in honey samples and provided satisfactory recovery.
Keywords: chloramphenicol; electrochemical aptasensor; gold nanoparticles (Au NPs); metal-organic framework.