MXene-Modified Fiber-Based Electronic Tongue for Sensitive Detection of Antibiotic Residues in Milk

The widespread use of antibiotics has raised concerns about their residues in dairy products, meat, fish, and poultry, which can pose risks to human health and lead to substantial economic losses. Therefore, the rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective detection of low concentrations of various antibiotics in food samples is critical. This work reports on the fabrication of MXene fibers by coating commercial nylon yarns with Ti₃C₂, Ti₃C_1.75N_0.25, and Ti₃C_1.5N_0.5 MXenes and their use as electrodes in an impedimetric electronic tongue (e-tongue). The MXene-modified fiber-based e-tongue was employed in the detection of trace amounts of cloxacillin benzathine, tetracycline hydrochloride, and streptomycin sulfate. By treating the collected electrical resistance data, the system could differentiate the antibiotics and detect their presence in real milk samples at concentrations as low as 10 nM. The use of low-cost MXene-modified nylon fibers as electrodes, which can be fabricated through rapid and straightforward methods, enhances the scalability and practicability of the e-tongue system. This approach represents a promising and robust alternative for the sensitive detection of diverse antibiotic residues in food matrices.