An efficient disposable and flexible electrochemical sensor based on a novel and stable metal carbon composite derived from cocoon silk

• Published in: Biosensors & bioelectronics 2019-10, Vol.142, p.111595-111595, Article 111595
• Main Authors: Patil, Aniruddha Balkrishna, Huang, Yafen, Ma, Liyun, Wu, Ronghui, Meng, Zhaohui, Kong, Lingqing, Zhang, Yifan, Zhang, Wenli, Liu, Qiang, Liu, Xiang Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biosensing Techniques - instrumentation; Bombyx - chemistry; Capsules; Carbon - chemistry; Electrochemical sensor; Electrochemical Techniques - instrumentation; Electrodes; Equipment Design; Fibroins - chemistry; Gold - chemistry; Gold nanoparticle; In situ reduction; Limit of Detection; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanocomposites - chemistry; Nitrogen doped silk carbon; Rutin - analysis; Rutin detection
• ISSN: 0956-5663; 1873-4235
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111595

The present work reports cocoon silk fibroin (SF)as a unique precursor for the in-situ fabrication of well-engineered, stable and leach free gold nanoparticle doped carbonaceous materials (AuNPs@NSC). In principle, at the molecular level, SF has a singular structure that can be converted to a N-doped aromatic carbon structure by heat treatment. The electrochemical properties of the prepared nanocomposite were examined by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. A flexible three electrode sensor system with AuNPs@NSC-modified working electrodes has been developed, to achieve easy operation and quick and accurate responses. The electrochemical results showed that the sensor made by the AuNPs@NSC-modified working electrode demonstrated high sensitivity for the detection of rutin, which is attributed to the good distribution of the AuNPs on the carbon matrix. Using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), the AuNPs@NSC electrode was found to have a linear response in the range of 0.11–250 μM and a comparably low limit of detection of 0.02 μM (S/N = 3). To ensure the accuracy and applicability of the sensors, the concentration of rutin in the commodity (rutin capsule, 10 mg/capsule) was examined, and the sensor provided high precision with a minimum relative error (RE) of 3.3%. These findings suggest that AuNPs@NSC can be considered to be a potential electrode material for the development of electrochemical devices and has great potential in extending their application to the flexible sensor field. •Fabrication of metal-carbon composites by in situ reduction and carbonization.•Silk fibroin has been converted to N-doped graphitic carbon by carbonization.•Flexible three electrode strip sensor has been developed.•In situ prepared AuNPs@NSC is used as a sensitive and selective working electrode.•The accuracy and applicability of the sensor has been detected using the commodity.