Smartphone-integrated nanozymes sensor array for high throughput recognition of organophosphorus pesticides

Traditional methods for detecting organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) are costly and complex, and also require expensive instruments. Although many colorimetric methods have been established to detect OPs, unfortunately, these methods are based on the inhibition of the activity of natural enzymes by pesticides, which is prone to false positive signals. In addition, a variety of OPs often co-exist in the actual detection, which will interfere with each other, resulting in unsatisfactory detection results. To avoid this occasion, we developed a nanozyme sensor array based on Ag2O nanospheres to achieve simultaneous discrimination and efficient detection of a variety of OPs without the participation of natural enzymes. The nanozyme sensor array was constructed for detecting six OPs simultaneously, which took advantage of Ag2O with oxidase-like activity to catalyze the TMB, OPD and ABTS reaction system. Additionally, the colorimetric results of the sensor array for OPs detection were recorded and analyzed using a smartphone with a camera. This work not only provides a convenient and high-efficiency method to identify OPs, but it also advances food safety and environmental monitoring.