Silver nanoparticles combined with amino-functionalized UiO-66 for sensitive detection of glutathione

Herein, a fluorescent nanosensor has been constructed for detection of glutathione (GSH) based on NH₂-UiO-66 and AgNPs. The NH₂-UiO-66 was synthesized where 2-amino-terephthalic acid as the organic ligand and Zr⁴⁺ as the center metal ions. The AgNPs can enhance the fluorescence of NH₂-UiO-66 based on metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) effect. Moreover, in the present of GSH, the fluorescence of NH₂-UiO-66@AgNPs was quenched via electrostatic interaction and Ag-S reaction. The present sensing strategy shows good linear relation with the concentration of GSH in the range of 0.2-1.0 μM and 1.0-30 μM, and the limit of detection is 79 nM. Furthermore, our fluorescent nanosensor was utilized to detect GSH in human serum with a recovery of 96.8-102.5%. The results indicated that NH₂-UiO-66@AgNPs is successfully applied for high sensitive and selective detection of GSH in human serum.