Immobilization-Free Photoelectrochemical Aptasensor for Atrazine Based on Bifunctional Graphene Signal Amplification and a Controllable Sulfhydryl-Assembled BiOBr/Ag NP Microinterface.

Abstract

Immobilization-free sensors (IFSs), with no requirement of fixing the recognition element to the electrode surface, have received increasing attention due to their unique advantages of reusable electrodes, not being limited by the load of the recognition element, and not being easily changed to the structure of the probe. In the present work, an effective visible light-driven immobilization-free photoelectric aptasensor for ultrasensitive detection of atrazine (ATZ) was proposed based on a reusable BiOBr/Ag NP substrate electrode with ultrafast charge transfer. Controllable thiols were used as conditioning agents for the photoelectric signal. The ingeniously designed bifunctional graphene can act as not only a molecular "bridge" for the ATZ aptamer through a strong π-π stacking effect, obtaining a graphene-aptamer complex, serving as a homogeneous recognition element, but also a switch for signal modulation for quantitative detection of target substances. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of the above-mentioned factors, the proposed sensor is capable of ultrasensitive and highly selective detection of ATZ in real water samples with a low detection limit of 1.2 pM and a wide linear range from 5.0 pM to 10.0 nM. Furthermore, it shows high stability, good selectivity, and strong anti-interference ability. Thus, this work has provided a fresh perspective for designing advanced immobilization-free photoelectric sensors and convenient detection of environmental pollutants.