Development of fluorescent aptasensor for detection of acephate by utilizing graphene oxide platform

A fluorescent graphene oxide based aptasensing platform was developed for the detection of acephate. The aptamers specific to the acephate were screened through GO-SELEX (Graphene Oxide - Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) method for six rounds. The screened aptamers were analyzed for their binding affinity and specificity by using fluorescence-based assay. The aptamer AAPT3 that demonstrated highest affinity (K_d = 9 ± 1 nM) and an excellent selectivity, was employed in the development of fluorescent aptasensor. Under optimal conditions, the aptasensor showed low limit of detection (4 ng mL^-1) and a wide dynamic linear range (5-80 ng mL^-1). The aptasensor was also validated against water samples spiked with acephate, which showed fluorescence recovery from 94 to 107% and coefficient of variation 1-5%. These results indicate that the developed aptasensor can be used for sensitive, selective, and accurate detection of acephate in various samples.