Detection of biogenic amine histamine using a triboelectric nanogenerator integrated biodegradable sensor

Improperly preserved fish, like tuna or mackerel, can cause Scombroid food poisoning due to the presence of excess histamine, which triggers an allergic reaction in the human body. Although there are several sensitive and reliable histamine detection techniques, it remains challenging to develop portable, lightweight devices that enable rapid detection of histamine at any point in the fish production chain. Herein, we have demonstrated a self-powered biodegradable sensor using a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to detect histamine. The TENG consists of two triboelectric layers: polycaprolactone (PCL) and wool fabric. The PCL TENG generates the highest output of 213 V, 640 nA, 70 μW power, and also demonstrates long-term stability. The biosensor was prepared using the PCL substrate with an interdigitated (IDT) patterned gold electrode, which was further functionalized with diamine oxidase (DAO) by a simple self-assembled monolayer (SAM) technique for the specific detection of histamine. Upon addition of histamine onto the sensor, DAO degrades the histamine and produces various byproducts, which leads to a change in resistance, further leading to a huge increment in the current output. The selectivity of the sensor by using various other biogenic amines, such as L-tyrosine and tyramine, was also demonstrated. The sensor indicated a good sensitivity of 0.07961 μA ppm^-1 with R² = 0.98 and a limit of detection (LOD) of 43.34 ppm. In addition, the biodegradable test of PCL has shown 42.4% degradability for up to 60 days. This work proposes an entirely novel approach for TENG-based biodegradable biosensor systems as well as a quick and efficient way to detect histamine.