Novel electrochemical dual-aptamer-based sandwich biosensor using molybdenum disulfide/carbon aerogel composites and Au nanoparticles for signal amplification

A new electrochemical aptamer biosensor for the platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) detection has been developed based on the signal amplification of MoS2/carbon aerogel composites (MoS2/CA) and sandwich assay. A facile hydrothermal route assisted by l-cysteine was applied to synthesize CA incorporated flower-like MoS2 with the large surface active sites and good conductivity. The electrochemical aptasensor was constructed by sandwiching the PDGF-BB between a glassy carbon electrode modified with thiol-terminated PDGF-BB aptamer-1 (Apt1)/gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)/MoS2/CA and the AuNPs with thiol-terminated PDGF-BB aptamer-2 (Apt2) and 6-ferrocenyl hexanethiol (Fc). Fc–AuNPs–Apt2 acted as tracer and AuNPs/MoS2/CA were utilized as the biosensor platform to immobilize a large amount of capture aptamers, owing to their layered structure and high surface-to-volume ratio. Based on the sandwich format, a dual signal amplification strategy had been successfully developed with a wide linear response in the range of 0.001–10 nM and a limit of detection of 0.3 pM. The developed assay demonstrated good selectivity and high sensitivity, indicating potential applications in bioanalysis and biomedicine.