Dual-signal electrochemical immunosensor based on the water electrolysis signals of (NiFeCo)2P@Au/CeO2 nanocomposites: Application for prostate-specific antigen detection

Abstract

Sensitive and accurate detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is great importance for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. However, constructing an electrochemical immunosensor with dual-signal detection can significantly improve the sensitivity and accuracy of PSA detection. Therefore, we prepared an electrolytic water bifunctional catalyst (NiFeCo)2P@Au/CeO2 and used it as an electrocatalytic label to construct a dual-signal electrochemical immunosensor. Based on the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) signals of (NiFeCo)2P@Au/CeO2, the electrochemical immunosensor can achieve dual-signal detection of PSA. Research has shown that the dual-signal electrochemical immunosensor not only has a wide detection linear range (0.0001–100 ng mL−1), but also has extremely low detection limits (HER signal: 116.86 fg mL−1 and OER signal: 39.05 fg mL−1). In addition, it was used for PSA detection in human serum samples with good recovery. This dual-signal electrochemical immunosensor provides a new detection method for PSA and also develops a new dual-signal detection strategy for electrochemical immunosensor.