Ultra-sensitive fluorescent biosensor for multiple bacteria detection based on CDs/QDs@ZIF-8 and microfluidic fluidized bed

Abstract

An ultra-sensitive fluorescent biosensor based on CDs/QDs@ZIF-8 and microfluidic fluidized bed was developed for rapid and ultra-sensitive detection of multiple target bacteria. The zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8) act as the carrier to encapsulate three kinds of fluorescence signal molecules from the CDs/QDs@ZIF-8 signal amplification system. Besides, three kinds of target pathogenic bacteria were automatically, continuously, and circularly captured by the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in the microfluidic fluidized bed. The neutral Na₂EDTA solution was the first time reported to not only dissolve the ZIF-8 frameworks from the MNPs-bacteria-CDs/QDs@ZIF-8 sandwich complexes, but also release the CDs/QDs from sandwich complexes with no loss of fluorescence signal. Due to the advantages of signal amplification and automated sample pretreatment, the proposed fluorescent biosensor can simultaneously detect Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella paratyphi A, and Salmonella paratyphi B as low as 10¹ CFU/mL within 1.5 h, respectively. The mean recovery in spiked milk samples can reach 99.18%, verifying the applicability of this biosensor in detecting multiple bacteria in real samples.

Keywords: Carbon dots; Microfluidic fluidized bed; Multiple bacteria detection; Quantum dots; ZIF-8.