An upconversion fluorescence resonance energy transfer nanosensor for one step detection of melamine in raw milk

•A nanosensor was developed based on upconversion nanoparticles and gold nanoparticles.•The sensor linearly responses to melamine within 32.0-500 nM with a detection limit of 18.0 nM.•The fluorescent sensor was used to detect melamine in raw milk sample.

Here we report a nanosensor based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for melamine detection. The positively charged UCNPs as donor and the negatively charged AuNPs as acceptor bound together through electrostatic interaction, which caused the fluorescence quenching of UCNPs. Upon addition of melamine, AuNPs were released from the surface of UCNPs and aggregation due to the N-Au interaction between melamine and AuNPs, which results in the fluorescence of UCNPs gradually recovered. Under the optimal conditions including media pH (7.0), the concentration of AuNPs (1.23 nM) and incubation time (12 min), the fluorescence enhanced efficiency shows a linear response to the melamine concentration ranging from 32.0 to 500 nM with a detection limit of 18.0 nM. Compared with other fluorescence methods, the fluorimetric nanosensor shows high sensitivity of 0.968, ease of operation and can be used for the determination of melamine in raw milk samples.

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