Development of an electrochemical biosensor for alkylphenol detection

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Alkylphenols, such as 4-nonylphenol (NP), are priority hazardous substances found in seawater.
• Traditional detection methods like ELISA can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
• Development of rapid, sensitive, and disposable biosensors is crucial for environmental monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct and validate electrochemical biosensors based on FET-SWCNT for detecting alkylphenols.
• To assess the analytical performance (reproducibility, repeatability, limit of detection, accuracy) of the developed biosensors.
• To compare the biosensor performance with the established ELISA method for NP detection in artificial seawater.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of disposable electrochemical biosensors utilizing field-effect transistors (FET) integrated with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT).
• Detection of 4-nonylphenol (NP) via an immunoreaction mechanism.
• Validation using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and analysis of spiked artificial seawater samples.

Main Results:

• The biosensors exhibited excellent analytical performance with high reproducibility (0.56±0.08%) and repeatability (0.5±0.2%).
• A low limit of detection (LOD) for NP was achieved at 5µgL(-1).
• Average recovery rates ranged from 97.8% to 104.6%, confirming high accuracy compared to ELISA.

Conclusions:

• Simple, disposable FET-SWCNT biosensors are effective for detecting hazardous priority substances like NP in seawater.
• The developed biosensors offer a sensitive and accurate alternative to traditional methods for environmental monitoring.
• This technology holds promise for real-time, on-site detection of pollutants in aquatic environments.