A simple label-free electrochemical immunosensor for ovarian cancer (OC) detection was developed using a hierarchical microporous carbon material fabricated from waste coffee grounds (WCG). The analysis method exploited near-field communication (NFC) and a smartphone-based potentiostat. Waste coffee grounds were pyrolyzed with potassium hydroxide and used to modify a screen-printed electrode. The modified screen-printed electrode was decorated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to capture a specific antibody. The modification and immobilization processes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The sensor had an effective dynamic range of 0.5 to 50.0 U mL-1 of cancer antigen 125 (CA125) tumor marker with a correlation coefficient of 0.9995. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.4 U mL-1. A comparison of the results obtained from human serum analysis with the proposed immunosensor and the results obtained from the clinical method confirmed the accuracy and precision of the proposed immunosensor.
Keywords: Cancer antigen 125; Immunosensor; Ovarian cancer; Smartphone-based NFC potentiostat sensor; Waste coffee grounds.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.