Electrochemical aptasensors based on hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks for detecting trace penicillin G

This study presents the rational design and synthesis of two hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) via hydrogen-bonding-driven self-assembly of organic monomers. HOFs have abundant binding sites and extended π-conjugated networks for aptamer immobilization. Compared to non-porous HOF-BPTCA, the porous HOF-TCBP can synergistically enhance both electronic conductivity and accessible functional area to fabricate a high-performance electrochemical aptasensor. Penicillin G (PG) is a widely used broad-spectrum antibiotic, which is selected to investigate the sensing ability of aptasensors. The electrochemical aptasensor based on HOF-TCBP can quantitatively detect trace PG using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), which exhibits a good linear range from 0.0005 ng mL^-1 to 0.5 ng mL^-1 and a low limit of detection (1.04 fg mL^-1). This work opens a novel idea for constructing high-performance HOFs-based electrochemical aptasensors and expands their applications in the electrical biosensing field.