Sodium dodecyl sulfate-modified ZIF-8 for sensitive detection of tetracycline in foods under synergistic adsorption of sodium dodecyl sulfate

The abuse for tetracycline (TC) in animal husbandry causes the residue of TC in animal foods, and even in vegetables arised from the pollution of soil. The sensitive determination of TC is greatly significant for the safety monitoring of foods. Herein, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was self-assembled on zeolite imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) via hydrophobic interaction. The sensitive fluorescent detection of TC was obtained based on ZIF-8@SDS as-synthesized. After adding TC to ZIF-8@SDS, the internal ZIF-8 sensitized the emission band of TC centered at 521 nm, and the external SDS adsorbed TC via hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. On this basis, TC could be quantified by ZIF-8@SDS selectively in a concentration range from 0.01 to 60 μM within 1 min. Importantly, the synergistic adsorption effect of SDS promoted the sensitivity of ZIF-8@SDS, and the limit of detection as low as 9 nM was calculated toward TC. The concentrations of TC in fish and tomato samples were determined by ZIF-8@SDS. The relative standard deviations ranged from 1.1 % to 6.7 %, and the spiked recoveries were in the range of 85.2 %–116.2 %, proving the application potential of ZIF-8@SDS in food safety monitoring.