Ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensor based on Au nanoparticles dotted carbon nanotube-graphene composite and functionalized mesoporous materials

A facile and sensitive electrochemical immunosensor for detection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) was designed by using functionalized mesoporous nanoparticles as bionanolabels. To construct high-performance electrochemical immunosensor, Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) dotted carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-graphene composite was immobilized on the working electrode, which can increase the surface area to capture a large amount of primary antibodies (Ab1) as well as improve the electronic transmission rate. The as-prepared bionanolabels. composed of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MCM-41) coated with AuNPs through thionine linking, showed good adsorption of horseradish peroxidase-labeled secondary anti-hCG antibody. Interlayer thionine was not only a bridging agent between MCM-41 and AuNPs but also an excellent electron mediator. The approach provided a good linear response range from 0.005 to 500 mIU mL−1 with a low detection limit of 0.0026 mIU mL−1. The immunosensor showed good precision, acceptable stability and reproducibility. Satisfactory results were obtained for determination of hCG in human serum samples. The proposed method provides a new promising platform of clinical immunoassay for other biomolecules.