Electrogenerated chemiluminescence aptasensor for lysozyme based on copolymer nanospheres encapsulated black phosphorus quantum dots

Abstract

Black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) can react with Ru(bpy)32+ to generate strong anodic electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL). However, the instability and the lack of functional groups on BPQDs limit its further application in the fabrication of ECL biosensor. In the present work, uniform BPQDs-styrene-acrylamide (St-AAm) nanospheres (BSAN) are synthesized by encapsulating BPQDs into St-AAm copolymer nanospheres. Sufficient amount of BPQDs can be embedded into nanospheres, and react with Ru(bpy)32+ to generate strong anodic ECL which is comparable to that of pure BPQDs. Amino group of polymer endows BPQDs the ability to connect with DNA, and can be used to fabricate ECL aptasensor for the sensitive detection of lysozyme. The proposed aptasensor shows high sensitivity, good selectivity and stability for the detection of lysozyme in the range of 0.1–100 pg mL−1 with a detection limit of 0.029 pg mL−1 (3σ). The proposed method reveals the promising ECL sensing application of BP nanomaterials in the detection of various proteins.