Quartz Crystal Microbalance Aptasensor for Sensitive Detection of Mercury(II) Based on Signal Amplification with Gold Nanoparticles 英文参考文献.docVIP

Sensors 2012, 12, 7080-7094; doi:10.3390/s120607080 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Quartz Crystal Microbalance Aptasensor for Sensitive Detection of Mercury(II) Based on Signal Amplification with Gold Nanoparticles Zong-Mu Dong 1 and Guang-Chao Zhao 1,2,* 1 College of Environmental Science and engineering, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China; E-Mail: dzongmu@ 2 Anhui Key Laboratory of Chem-Biosensing, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: gczhao@; Tel.: +86-55-3591-0721; Fax: +86-55-3591-0720. Received: 18 April 2012; in revised form: 14 May 2012 / Accepted: 23 May 2012 / Published: 29 May 2012 Abstract: We show that a short mercury-specific aptamer (MSA) along with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) can be used to determine Hg(II) ion by a combination of a QCM-based sensor and a flow system. The MSA binds specifically to Hg(II), and the Au-NPs can amplify the signal to enhance sensitivity. Specifically, the short thiolated MSAs are immobilized on the surface of the QCM as the capture probe, and the MSAs are linked to the Au-NPs as the linking probe. The two components can form a sandwich structure of the T-Hg(II)-T type in the presence of Hg(II) ions. This leads to change in the mass on the QCM and a change in the resonance frequency. Hg(II) can be determined with a detection limit of 0.24 ± 0.06 nM which is better by three orders of magnitude than previous methods. The sensor can be regenerated by disrupting the T-Hg(II)-T base pairs with a solution of cysteine. Keywords: mercury ion; aptamer; gold nanoparticle; quartz crystal microbalance; flow system  Sensors 2012, 12 7081 1. Introduction Mercury is a highly toxic heavy metal ion that exists in metallic, inorganic, and organic forms [1]. Solvated mercuric ion (Hg2+),