Combination of phenylboronic acid and oligocytosine for selective and specific detection of lead(ii) by lateral flow test strip

Abstract

Detection of lead (II) in water sources is of high importance for protection from this toxic contaminant. This paper presents the development and approbation of a lateral flow test strip of lead (II) with the use of phenylboronic acid as chelating agent and oligocytosine chain as receptor for the formed complexes. To locate the bound lead (II) on the test strip, phenylboronic acid was conjugated with carrier protein (bovine serum albumin) and applied as a binding line. In turn, the oligocytosine was conjugated with gold nanoparticle to provide coloration of the finally formed complexes (bovine serum albumin - phenylboronic acid - lead (II) – oligocytosine – gold nanoparticle). This combination of two binding molecules provides the «sandwich » assay with direct dependence of label binding from the analyte content. The technique is characterized by high sensitivity (0.05 ng mL−1) and the absence of cross-reactions with other metal ions which are often satellite in natural waters. The developed lateral flow tests were successfully applied for lead (II) detection in water. Time of the assay was 5 min. The reached parameters confirm efficiency of the proposed technique for rapid and non-laborious testing under nonlaboratory conditions.