Rational incorporation of covalent organic framework/carbon nanotube (COF/CNT) composites for electrochemical aptasensing of ultra-trace atrazine

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. C, Materials for optical and electronic devices Materials for optical and electronic devices, 2021-07, Vol.9 (25), p.843-85
• Main Authors: Zhu, Qian-Qian, Li, Hong-Kai, Sun, Xiao-Long, Han, Zhang-Ye, Sun, Jianchao, He, Hongming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atrazine; Biosensors; Carbon nanotubes; Chemical bonds; Composite materials; Electrical resistivity; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; Hydrogen bonds; Pore size distribution; Porosity
• ISSN: 2050-7526; 2050-7534
• DOI: 10.1039/d1tc01506k

The fabrication of novel covalent organic frameworks (COFs)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composites with excellent performance in broad applications is an important field of research. Mesoporous COF can be successfully coated on the surface of CNTs through the formation of chemical bonds between COFs-CHO and CNTs-NH 2 . This composite can be implemented to fabricate an electrochemical aptasensor owing to its porosity, conjugated system and electrical conductivity, and can quantitatively detect atrazine over a wide concentration range of 1.0 × 10 −3 to 50 ng mL −1 with the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.67 pg mL −1 (3.11 pM) using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The sensing performance can be mainly attributed to a mass of aptamers immobilized on the COF through π-π stacking and hydrogen bond interactions and the fine electrical conductivity of the CNTs. This systematic research can provide an efficient approach to fabricate COF/CNT composite-based biosensors for monitoring ultra-trace analytes. A COF/CNT-based electrochemical aptasensor is constructed to detect atrazine with high sensitivity, good selectivity, fine repeatability and long-term stability.