Ultrasensitive analysis of patulin using aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence active polymer dots as probe

Patulin (PAT) is a common mycotoxin that widely contaminates foods, posing a serious threat to public health. Sensitive detection of PAT is thus significant. Herein, an ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensing platform was constructed for quantitative analysis of PAT, in which aggregation-induced ECL (AIECL)-active polymer dots (Pdots) are considered as emitters and ECL-resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) is employed as the signal transduction mechanism. The ECL signal of Pdots is initially quenched by black hole quencher (BHQ) moiety. When PAT is added, the BHQ-linked PAT aptamer escapes from electrode surface due to their specific recognition between PAT and its aptamer, leading to a recovery of the Pdots' ECL signal. As a consequence, this sensing platform exhibits high sensitivity of a detection limit of 0.076 pg/mL. Significantly, reliable results are achieved in Apple samples. This work provides an efficient approach for trace PAT detection in food matrices, expanding the application of AIECL aptasensing technology in food safety analysis.