Facile Preparation of Electroactive Au@Ru Cups for Sensitive Detection of Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA), illegally added to food packaging, infiltrates into food and causes potential hazards to human health. The fabrication of strong and stable electroactive beacons is vital to develop sensitive and accurate electrochemical aptasensors for BPA detection. Herein, a facile method is proposed for the controlled growth of Ru dots on the surface of Au cups at ordinary pressure, inducing the formation of burrlike Au@Ru cups. Au@Ru cups exhibited a strong electro-oxidization signal at around 1.0 V, owing to the electron transfer process between Ru0 and Rux+. The large specific surface area of cup structures enabled the deposition of numerous electroactive Ru sites for the formation of burrlike Au@Ru cups. The electro-oxidization signal was enhanced, and the peak intensity reached 143 μA. Au@Ru cups served as the alternative electrochemical beacons for the sensitive detection of BPA in the range of 1 nM to 200 μM. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.5 nM. This work provided a new principle for the design of strong electroactive Ru-based nanocomposites for detection applications.