Multifunctional upconversion nanoparticles based LRET aptasensor for specific detection of As(III) in aquatic products.

The arsenic contamination of aquatic food has emerged as a serious concern in recent years due to its hazardous effect on human health. Herein, the multifunctional Fe 3 O 4 @NaGdF 4: Yb: Er (Fe@UCNPs) with fluorescent and magnetic dual properties were fabricated and subsequently applied to construct a platform for detecting the arsenic (As(III)). A luminescence resonance energy transfer (LRET) biosensor was developed with the aptamer-modified magnetized upconversion nanoparticles (Fe@UCNPs) as the donor and tetramethylrhodamine (TAMRA) as the acceptor. Most importantly, Fe@UCNPs revealed highly integrated magnetic and fluorescence properties, thus, allowing the enrichment of targets in the fresh solution by magnetic separation, and avoiding the interference from the detection environment, along with enabling the signal accumulation and amplification. Moreover, the sensor was successfully used for the sensing analysis of As(III) in real samples (fish and shrimp), demonstrating that the biosensor to be a sensitive and specific quantitative platform for arsenic monitoring. [Display omitted] • A novel aptasensor based on the LRET between multifunctional UCNPs and TAMRA has been developed. • The proposed sensor was successfully used for the sensing analysis of As3+ in real samples. • The biosensor achieved accurate separation and detection without the environmental disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]