Coordination of H2O2 on praseodymia nanorods and its application in sensing cholesterol

Abstract

The advancement of functional nanomaterials has promoted the development of biomarker sensors underpinning promising analytical tools for a range of bioanalytes such as cholesterol. In this work, we established a light-on fluorescent probe for cholesterol in human serum by coordination of H 2 O 2 on the surface of praseodymia nanorods (Pr 6 O 11 NRs). The distinctive interactions of various nucleotides and H 2 O 2 with praseodymia were examined, whereby good fluorescent quenching and recovery capability were observed. A highly sensitive and selective cholesterol detection was achieved in serum samples with a detection limit of 0.1 μM and recovery of 97.2–101.3%, respectively, due to the high oxygen mobility of praseodymia. The result suggests strong potential for work towards a key probe for a portable clinical test system for cholesterol as well as other H 2 O 2 -deriving biomarkers, potentially addressing the ever-increasing demand for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. • A fluorescent probe based on Pr 6 O 11 nanorods with DNA oligomer is constructed. • Coordination of H 2 O 2 on Pr 6 O 11 leads to DNA depletion off the nanorods surface. • A fluorometric “light-on” method for cholesterol detection is proposed with high sensitivity.