Electrochemical detection of the amino-substituted naphthalene compounds based on intercalative interaction with hairpin DNA by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

The amino-substituted naphthalene compounds, such as 1,8-diaminonaphthalene (1,8-DANAP), 2,3-diaminonaphthalene (2,3-DANAP), 1,5-diaminonaphthalene (1,5-DANAP), 1-naphthylamine (1-NAP) and 2-naphthylamine (2-NAP), were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which was based on the interaction with hairpin DNA immobilized on the gold electrodes. Upon hairpin DNA interacting with the target chemicals, the charge transfer resistance (RCT) of the hairpin DNA films was significantly decreased and the charge transfer resistance change (ΔRCT) decreased in a sequence of ΔRCT 1,8-DANAP>ΔRCT 2,3-DANAP>ΔRCT 1,5-DANAP>ΔRCT 1-NAP>ΔRCT 2-NAP. The ΔRCT changes were due to the difference in the binding constant (KSV) of the target chemicals to DNA. In addition, the interaction mechanism was further explored using 1,8-DANAP as a model analyte by fluorescence spectra, Raman spectroscopy, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and EIS, correspondingly. The results demonstrated that the amino-substituted naphthalene compounds intercalated into “stem” appearing in the hairpin DNA. Moreover, the hairpin DNA sensor exhibited high sensitivity to the amino-substituted naphthalene compounds with the detection limit of nano-mole, and maintained high selectivity over other selected environmental pollutants. Finally, the DNA sensor was challenged in natural water sample with a recovery of 96-102%, which offered a platform for prospective future development of a simple, rapid, sensitive and low-cost assay for the detection of target aromatic amine pollutants.