Simple and rapid chemiluminescence aptasensor for Hg2+ in contaminated samples: A new signal amplification mechanism

Detection of ultralow concentration of heavy metal ion Hg2+ is important for human health protection and environment monitoring because of the gradual accumulation in environmental and biological fields. Herein, we report a convenient chemiluminescence (CL) biosensing platform for ultrasensitive Hg2+ detection by signal amplification mechanism from positively charged gold nanoparticles ((+)AuNPs). It is based on (+)AuNPs charge effect and aptamer conformation change induced by target to stimulate the generation of CL in the presence of H2O2 and luminol without high salt medium. Notably particularly, the typical problem of the high salt medium from (−) AuNPs system, like influencing aptamers' bind with target and hindering CL reaction can be effectively addressed through the direct introduction of (+)AuNPs. Therefore, the proposed biosensing exhibits a high sensitivity toward target Hg2+ with a detection limit of 16 pM, which is far below the limit (10 nM) defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in drinkable water, and is about 10-fold lower than the previously reported aptamer-based assays for Hg2+. This sensing platform provides a simple, rapid, and cost-effective approach for label-free sensitive detection of Hg2+. Moreover, it is universal for the detection of other targets. Undoubtedly, such a direct utilizing of (+)AuNPs' charge effect will provide a new signal amplification way for label-free aptamer-based CL analysis.