Gold alloy-based nanozyme sensor arrays for biothiol detection

• Published in: Analyst (London) 2020-06, Vol.145 (11), p.3916-3921
• Main Authors: Lin, Junshu, Wang, Quan, Wang, Xiaoyu, Zhu, Yunyao, Zhou, Xi, Wei, Hui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Catalysis; Cattle; Colorimetry; Colorimetry - methods; Cost analysis; Functional materials; Glutathione; Gold; Gold Alloys - chemistry; Gold base alloys; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Oxidation-Reduction; Peroxidase; Sensor arrays; Sensors; Sulfhydryl Compounds - blood; Sulfhydryl Compounds - chemistry
• ISSN: 0003-2654; 1364-5528
• DOI: 10.1039/d0an00451k

Biothiols play an important role in living cells and are associated with many diseases. Thus, it is necessary to develop a facile, cost-effective, and convenient analytical method for the detection of biothiols. Nanozymes are functional nanomaterials with enzymatic activities. Due to their unique advantages ( e.g. , low cost, high stability, and multifunctionality), nanozymes have been extensively used to construct sensing systems. Previous studies demonstrated colorimetric assays for biothiol detection because they could competitively inhibit the peroxidase-like activities of nanozymes. However, few studies were able to differentiate biothiols from each other. To address these challenges, herein, we first synthesized Au alloy nanozymes with better peroxidase-like activities than gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Then, cross-reactive sensor arrays were constructed with three alloy nanozymes. Six typical biothiols ( i.e. , glutathione, cysteine, dithiothreitol, mercaptoacetic acid, mercaptoethanol, and mercaptosuccinic acid) were successfully detected and discriminated by the as-prepared nanozyme sensor arrays. Moreover, the practical application of the nanozyme sensor arrays was demonstrated by discriminating biothiols in serum successfully. Schematic representation of biothol detection using gold alloy-based nanozyme sensor arrays.