Application of ZnO quantum dots dotted carbon nanotube for sensitive electrochemiluminescence immunoassay based on simply electrochemical reduced Pt/Au alloy and a disposable device

•A sandwich-type electrochemluminence immunosensor was fabricated.•Simply electrochemical reduced Pt/Au alloy was selected as immunosensing probes.•ZnO@CNT composite was first employed as signal amplification label.

We report on a disposable microdevice suitable for sandwich-type electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA). The method is making use of ZnO quantum dots dotted carbon nanotube (ZnO@CNT) and simply electrochemical reduced Pt/Au alloy. The latter was selected as immunosensing probe to modify screen-printed carbon electrode, due to its excellent electrical property. For further ultrasensitive, low-potential and stable ECL detection, ZnO@CNT composite was first synthesized using a facile solvothermal method, and employed as signal amplification label. In this work, two working electrodes in one device were used for one determination to obtain more exact results based on screen-print technique. Taking advantage of dual-amplification effects of the Pt/Au and ZnO@CNT, this immunosensor could detect the PSA quantitatively, in the range of 0.001–500 ng mL−1, with a low detection limit of 0.61 pg mL−1. The resulting versatile immunosensor possesses high sensitivity, satisfactory reproducibility and regeneration. This simple and specific strategy has vast potential to be used in other biological assays.

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