Issue 43, 2016, Issue in Progress

Aptamer-functionalized P(NIPAM-AA) hydrogel fabricated one-dimensional photonic crystals (1DPCs) for colorimetric sensing

Abstract

As heavy metals cannot be biodegraded and are easily accumulated in food chain organisms and so enter the human body, a simple detection method becomes particularly important for human health. A robust means for the visual detection of highly toxic mercury ion (Hg2+) is developed with aptamer-functionalized one-dimensional photonic crystals (1DPCs). 1DPCs consisting of TiO2 and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-acrylic acid), P(NIPAM-AA), were successfully fabricated by a spin-coating technique, whose stopbands span the total visible range. When the 1DPCs were exposed to mercury ion solution, the specific binding of cross-linked single-stranded aptamers and heavy metal ions in the hydrogel network caused the hydrogel to shrink. At the same time, there was a homologous blue shift in the Bragg diffraction peak position of the TiO2/P(NIPAM-AA) 1DPCs. The shift value could be used to estimate the number of target ions quantitatively. It was found that the 1DPCs apta-sensor could screen a wide concentration range of heavy metal ions with selectivity and sensitivity. It is expected that the technology may also be widely used in screening a wide range of metal ions in drugs, food, and the environment.

Graphical abstract: Aptamer-functionalized P(NIPAM-AA) hydrogel fabricated one-dimensional photonic crystals (1DPCs) for colorimetric sensing

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Feb 2016
Accepted
25 Mar 2016
First published
30 Mar 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 36827-36833

Aptamer-functionalized P(NIPAM-AA) hydrogel fabricated one-dimensional photonic crystals (1DPCs) for colorimetric sensing

H. Xuan, J. Ren, Y. Zhu, B. Zhao and L. Ge, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 36827 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA03831J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements