Abstract
We describe a novel biosensing strategy for sensitive detection of methylamphetamine (MAMP) based on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) by the mediation of spacing between 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) labeled Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles (Au@Ag). To achieve a favorable SERS substrate, Au@Ag shell-core nanoparticle was synthesized with seeds growth method and well characterized by SEM, TEM and UV–vis spectrometer. The uniform Au@Ag shows an excellent dispersion ability for SERS detection. Under the optimized conditions, the novel biosensor shows a good logarithm linear correlation with the concentration of MAMP ranging from 0.5 ppb to 40 ppb (R2 = 0.986), with a limit of detection at 0.16 ppb of MAMP (3σ). Furthermore, our biosensors hold an excellent selectivity, demonstrated by the negligible interference from the detection of other illicit drugs and metabolites. The concentrations determined with our biosensor from spiked MAMP in human urine sample fell within the same range with the results from mass spectrometry. This indicates that our sensor has a clear potential for the rapid detection of illicit drug in real samples.
Highlights
The abuse of illicit drugs is a worldwide problem that has severe societal consequences, such as loss of lives and health of abusers, increased treatment costs, and higher incidence of crimes [1,2,3,4]
Traditional methods for quantitative detection of MAMP include gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry [6], high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry [2,3], ion mobility spectrometry [7], imaging mass spectrometry [8], etc
We present an approach to effectively synthesize Au@Ag core-shell nanopartics for the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of MAMP
Summary
The abuse of illicit drugs is a worldwide problem that has severe societal consequences, such as loss of lives and health of abusers, increased treatment costs, and higher incidence of crimes [1,2,3,4]. Traditional methods for quantitative detection of MAMP include gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry [6], high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry [2,3], ion mobility spectrometry [7], imaging mass spectrometry [8], etc These methods are robost and sensitive, they are mostly laboratory-based, requiring expensive facility and highly-trained personnel for interpretation of data. Biosensors have a great potential for rapid detection of illicit drug even in the complex matrixes [9] They do not require tedious sample preparation, complex pretreatment procedures, expensive instruments and professional personnel. The gold nanoparticles-based SERS sensor has attracted increasing attention for the rapid detection of DNA [16], heavy metal ions [17] and proteins [18]. The results showed our sensor has a clear potential for the detection of real sample
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