Selective staining of CdS on ZnO biolabel for ultrasensitive sandwich-type amperometric immunoassay of human heart-type fatty-acid-binding protein and immunoglobulin G

- Use of ZnO label to trigger formation of CdS nanocrystals for amplifying the signal.
- In situ anodic stripping voltammetry with enhanced cathodic preconcentration.
- Ultrasensitive metal-labeled amperometric immunoassay of proteins.
- Human immunoglobulin G and human heart-type fatty-acid-binding protein.

We report on an ultrasensitive metal-labeled amperometric immunoassay of proteins, which is based on the selective staining of nanocrystalline cadmium sulfide (CdS) on ZnO nanocrystals and in-situ microliter-droplet anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) detection on the immunoelectrode. Briefly, antibody 1 (Ab1), bovine serum albumin (BSA), antigen and ZnO-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) labeled antibody 2 (Ab2-ZnO-MWCNTs) were successively anchored on a β-cyclodextrin-graphene sheets (CD-GS) nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE), forming a sandwich-type immunoelectrode (Ab2-ZnO-MWCNTs/antigen/BSA/Ab1/CD-GS/GCE). CdS was selectively grown on the catalytic ZnO surfaces through chemical reaction of Cd(NO3)2 and thioacetamide (ZnO-label/CdS-staining), due to the presence of an activated cadmium hydroxide complex on ZnO surfaces that can decompose thioacetamide. A beforehand cathodic "potential control" in air and then injection of 7 μL of 0.1 M aqueous HNO3 on the immunoelectrode allow dissolution of the stained CdS and simultaneous cathodic preconcentration of atomic Cd onto the electrode surface, thus the following in-situ ASV detection can be used for immunoassay with enhanced sensitivity. Under optimized conditions, human immunoglobulin G (IgG) and human heart-type fatty-acid-binding protein (FABP) are analyzed by this method with ultrahigh sensitivity, excellent selectivity and small reagent-consumption, and the limits of detection (LODs, S/N=3) are 0.4 fg mL−1 for IgG and 0.3 fg mL−1 for FABP (equivalent to 73 FABP molecules in the 6 μL sample employed).