Carbon ink printed flexible glove-based aptasensor for rapid and point of care detection of Chikungunya virus

Abstract

Printed electronic technologies have sparked interest worldwide because of their capacity to transcend the limitations of existing high-cost electronics based on the fabrication of various devices deploying flexible substrates. Fabricating electrodes on stretchable, bendable, and soft substrates plays a vital role in flexible electronics. Hence this study demonstrates an electrochemical flexible substrate-based aptamer sensor for the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) antigen over an extensive range of concentrations. In brief, ZnO nanorods were chemically synthesised and characterised by Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), providing biocompatibility to the aptamer, a biorecognition element. The aptasensor showed a wide linearity (1 ng/ml-10 μg/ml), deploying a voltammetric identification in the presence of 10 mM methylene blue act as a redox-transition substance, with an estimated limit of detection of 1 ng/ml and 25 s as its optimal response time. The applicability of the sensor was further demonstrated by introducing CHIKV-Antigen into commercial serum samples. The built-in sensor has a shelf-life of approximately a month. CHIKV-Antigen can be detected rapidly on a portable platform. As a result, CHIKV can be diagnosed more quickly, allowing for more effective treatment choices.