Manganese(II) phosphate nanoflowers as electrochemical biosensors for the high-sensitivity detection of ractopamine

Abstract

We report a novel kind of electrochemical biosensor based on Mn3(PO4)2-like nanoflowers for detecting ractopamine. Mn3(PO4)2–protein hybrid nanocomposites were synthesized by self-assembly method, in which proteins such as immunoglobulin G (IgG), bovine serum albumin (BSA), and ractopamine antibody (RACanti) play an important role in the production of nanoflowers. To evaluate the efficiency of different biosensors based on Mn3(PO4)2-like nanoflowers, three kinds of nanocomposites were prepared, i.e., the nanocomposite of Mn3(PO4)2 and IgG (Mn3(PO4)2@IgG), RACanti (Mn3(PO4)2@RACanti), and BSA together with Au nanoparticles (Mn3(PO4)2@BSA@AuNPs). Different detection approaches were designed and carried out for varied biosensors. Mn3(PO4)2@BSA@AuNP and Mn3(PO4)2@RACanti nanocomposites were used as the sensitive layer of the electrochemical biosensor for RAC detection. However, only after RACanti adsorption onto the Mn3(PO4)2@IgG nanocomposite surface, the developed electrochemical biosensor was applied to detect ractopamine. Results showed that these Mn3(PO4)2-like nanoflowers exhibited high chemical activity and good electrochemical performance. All ractopamine detection procedures were determined by electrochemical measurements, providing extremely low detection limits of 9.32, 4.6, and 26pgmL−1 for three kinds of nanoflowers. Therefore, Mn3(PO4)2-like nanoflowers could also be utilized as electrochemical biosensors for various detection procedures in different fields.