Competition-Induced Binding Spherical Nucleic AcidFluorescence Amplifier for the Detection of Di (2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate in the Aquatic Environment

Lin Yuan; Dandan Ji; Qiang Fu; Mingyang Hu

doi:10.3390/nano12132196

Competition-Induced Binding Spherical Nucleic AcidFluorescence Amplifier for the Detection of Di (2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate in the Aquatic Environment

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Jun 26;12(13):2196. doi: 10.3390/nano12132196.

Authors

Lin Yuan¹, Dandan Ji¹, Qiang Fu¹, Mingyang Hu¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Science), Jinan 250353, China.

Abstract

Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is a toxic plasticizer and androgen antagonist. Its accumulation in water exceeds national drinking water standards and it must be continuously and effectively regulated. Currently, methods used to detect DEHP are still unsatisfactory because they usually have limited detection sensitivity and require complex operating procedures. A competition-induced fluorescence detection method was developed for the selective detection of DEHP in an aquatic environment. An aptamer with walking function was used as the recognition element for DEHP, and its quantification was induced by competition to change the fluorescence signal. The detection range was 0.01~100 µg/L, and the detection limit was 1.008 μg/L. This high-sensitivity DEHP detection capability and simplified process facilitates real-time fields and other monitoring tasks.

Keywords: Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate; aptamer-walker; competition-induced; fluorescence; spherical nucleic acid.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Open Subject of Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology (JKLAB201605), the Young Doctorate Cooperation Fund Project of Advanced Materials Institute, Shandong Academy of Science (2018QNHZ04).