Synergetic-effect-enhanced electrochemiluminescence of zein-protected Au–Ag bimetallic nanoclusters for CA15-3 detection

Abstract

In this work, a sandwich-type electrochemiluminescence (ECL) system was constructed for the detection of CA15-3. Gold-silver bimetallic nanoclusters (Au–Ag BNCs) with zein as a protective ligand were synthesized, and the excellent ECL performance of this material was demonstrated for the first time. Zein carrying a variety of groups that ligated with Au–Ag BNCs, forming a protective shell of zein, effectively prevented clusters from aggregating or growing into larger nanoparticles. The synergistic effect of the bimetal promotes the ECL emission, making this nanoscale material an ideal ECL probe. GO-PANI, which effectively promoting the production of sulfate radicals of the co-reactant and significantly increasing the ECL strength, was a good sensing platform for antibody immobilization. Consequently, we constructed an ECL sensor with GO-PANI as the sensing platform and Au–Ag BNCs@zein as the ECL probe, with a detection range of 0.001–100 U mL−1 and a detection limit of 0.0003 U mL−1, provided a strong support for the sensor for future CA15-3 detection applications.