Developing a self-checking photoelectrochemical biosensor with dual photocurrent signals could efficiently eliminate false-positive or false-negative signals. Herein, a novel biosensor with dual photocurrent responses was established for the detection of acetylcholinesterase activity. To achieve photocurrent polarity-switchable behavior, the iodide/tri-iodide redox couple was innovatively introduced to simultaneously consume the photoexcited electrons and holes, which circumvents the inconvenience caused by the addition of different hole- and electron-trapping agents in the electrolyte. Importantly, benefiting from the high catalytic activity, the enhanced photoelectric responsivity can be realized after decorating the counter electrode with nickel single-atom catalysts, which promotes a more efficient iodide/tri-iodide redox reaction under low applied voltages. It is envisioned that the proposed photocurrent polarity switching system offers new routes to sensitive and reliable biosensing.
Keywords: acetylcholinesterase activity assay; photocurrent polarity switching; photoelectrochemical biosensing; self-checking; single-atom catalysts.