Photoluminescent nanosensors capped with quantum dots for high-throughput determination of trace contaminants: Strategies for enhancing analytical performance

• Advancement of QD-based plnanosensors in high-throughput determination of trace contaminants were reviewed.
• Critical factors and difficulties of trace-contaminant detection in foods and the environment were summarized.
• Strategies for enhancing the analytical performance of QD-plnanosensors were highlighted.
• Future prospects of QD-plnanosensors in trace contaminants monitoring were prospected.

High-throughput determination of trace contaminants has attracted a great deal of attention due to their high toxicity, hyperstability and ultra-low level. Among various analytical methods developed during the past few decades, nanosensoring techniques have become increasingly popular due to their potential for portable, rapid and real-time detection. Quantum dots (QDs) are colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals with excellent photoluminescent properties, high quantum yields and high resistance to photobleaching. Recently, QD-based photoluminescent nanosensing (plnanosensing) techniques have provided new advances in the field of contaminant determination for environmental monitoring and food quality control. This review focuses on the improvements in the analytical performances of QD-based plnanosensing techniques in order to achieve on-site rapid screening of multiple contaminants. Critical factors along with some difficulties in high-throughput determination of trace contaminants are summarized. Furthermore, the main strategies for enhancing the analytical performance of QD-based plnanosensors based on the characteristics and difficulties of trace analysis are highlighted. Finally, we discuss the difficulties in association with the use of QD-based optosensors in trace analysis and the prospective applications of this novel analytical technique in the future.

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