A novel ECL aptasensor for ultra-highly sensitive detection of patulin based on terbium organic gels as Co-reaction accelerator in a 3, 4, 9, 10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid/K2S2O8 system

Patulin (PAT), a fungal metabolite, which mainly exists in various moldy fruits, is greatly harmful to human. However, there are still many unsolved problems in the current detection of PAT. In the work, an ultra-highly sensitive and effective monitoring strategy for PAT was explored based on a novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) aptasensor. Here, 3, 4, 9, 10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid (PTCA) was chosen as luminophore and terbium (Tb) metal organic gel (MOG) was prepared as a co-reaction accelerator. The MOG displayed a large surface area for immobilization of sufficient PTCA to catalyze co-reactant K2S2O8 to generate more sulfate radical anions (SO4• −), thus accelerating the electron-transfer (ET) rate to facilitate ECL efficiency. In the presence of PAT, the ECL signal was greatly quenched, which could be attributed to the specific binding effect between PAT aptamer and PAT. Based on this process, a wide range of PAT concentrations from 0.1 fg·mL−1 to 0.1 μg·mL−1 and a low detection limit of 0.02 fg·mL−1 (S/N = 3) were analyzed. The aptasensor showed excellent detection properties for trace patulin in terms of selectivity, sensitivity, stability, reproducibility and practicability. The designing ideas could serve as a model for the application of metal organic gels to design ultra-highly sensitive ECL platforms for food safety.