MAAN-eLFA: A portable electrical lateral flow assay enabled by cooperative MXene@Au-Ag nanowires networks for H1N1...

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) is a rapid and low-cost point-of-care testing technology; however, conventional optical readouts provide limited quantitative reliability. Here, we propose a structurally redesigned electrical LFA platform (MAAN-eLFA) featuring a built-in conductive architecture for quantitative antigen detection. Unlike traditional LFAs, a continuous silver nanowire network is pre-integrated across the nitrocellulose membrane to enable global electron transport, while MXene (Ti₃C₂T_x)-gold (MXene@Au) nanoprobes function as signal-transducing elements at the test line. Antigen recognition induces localized probe accumulation, activating multiple parallel electrical conduction pathways within the pre-established network and producing a measurable current output. This architecture enables direct electrical readout using a portable reader costing less than USD 10. The resulting electrical signal shows stable ohmic behavior and excellent concentration dependence. Using H1N1 antigen as a model, the assay achieves a detection limit of 0.124 ng/mL, representing an ∼80-fold sensitivity improvement over conventional colloidal gold LFAs. The platform exhibits good repeatability (RSD <8%), high specificity, and full agreement with RT-PCR in a preliminary validation of 15 clinical samples. This work demonstrates a network-engineered, low-cost electrical LFA strategy suitable for scalable quantitative point-of-care diagnostics.