Sensitive and selective detection of aspartic acid and glutamic acid based on polythiophene–gold nanoparticles composite

• Published in: Talanta (Oxford) Vol. 77; no. 1; pp. 319 - 324
• Main Authors: Guan, Hongliang, Zhou, Peng, Zhou, Xianglei, He, Zhike
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 19.10.2008; Oxford Elsevier
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Aspartic Acid - analysis; Aspartic Acid - chemistry; Aspartic acid and glutamic acid; Chemistry; Exact sciences and technology; Fluorometry; General, instrumentation; Glutamic Acid - analysis; Glutamic Acid - chemistry; Gold - chemistry; Gold nanoparticles; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Metal Nanoparticles - ultrastructure; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Molecular Structure; Polymers - chemistry; Polythiophene derivative; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Solutions; Spectrometric and optical methods; Spectrophotometry; Thiophenes - chemistry; Polythiophene derivative; Fluorometry; Gold nanoparticles; Aspartic acid and glutamic acid; Water; Glutamic acid; Gold; Nanoparticle; Metal ion; Polymer; Metal; Chemical sensor; Protein; Fluorescence spectrometry; Detection limit; Luminescence quenching; pHmeter; Aspartic acid; DNA hybridization; Monitoring
• ISSN: 0039-9140; 1873-3573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2008.06.040

In recent years, gold nanoparticles and water-soluble fluorescent conjugated polymers are promising materials in terms of their potential applications in a variety of fields, ranging from monitoring DNA hybridization to demonstrate the interaction between proteins, or detecting diseased cell, metal ions and small biomolecular. In order to exploit some new properties of the both, many attempts have been devoted to achieve nanoparticle–polymer composite via incorporating metal nanoparticle into polymer or vice versa, however, only few of them are put into practical application. In the present paper, we utilize the “superquenching” property of AuNPs to polythiophene derivatives for detecting aspartic acid (Asp) and glutamic acid (Glu) in pure water, and discuss the factors accounting for fluorescence quenching and recovery via modulating pH. Thus an exceptionally simple, rapid and sensitive method for detecting Asp and Glu is established with a limit of detection (LOD) is 32 nM for Asp and 57 nM for Glu, the linear range of determination for Asp is 7.5 × 10 −8 M to 6 × 10 −6 M and 9.0 × 10 −8 M to 5 × 10 −6 M for Glu. The system is applied to real sample detection and the results are satisfying. Otherwise the composite is very sensitive to pH change of solution, we expect it will be possible to use as pH sensor with wide range in the future.