Molecularly engineered ultrabright AIE nanoparticles for sensitive lateral flow immunoassay of zearalenone.

Abstract

In this study, the ultrabright aggregation-induced emission (AIE) nanoparticles were prepared via a micro-emulsion approach with 4',4‴,4‴″,4‴″-(ethylene-1,1,2,2-tetrayl)tetrakis([1,1'-biphenyl]-4‑carbonitrile) (TBC) as an AIE luminogen (AIEgen). The density functional theory (DFT) elucidated the reason of the AIE effect of TBC, revealing a significantly narrower highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) bandgap compared to that of conventional tetraphenylethylene (TPE). The resulting TBC-loaded AIE nanoparticles (TBCNPs) were featured with a high quantum yield (96.2%) and prolonged fluorescence lifetime. The TBCNPs was employed in lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for sensitive detection of zearalenone (ZEN) in cereal grains. The proposed TBCNPs-LFIA reached a limit of detection as low as 0.13 ng·mL-1, representing a 13.5-fold improvement in sensitivity compared to conventional gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-LFIA. By virtue of excellent sensitivity, high specificity, and acceptable recovery, this strategy provides a robust technic support for rapid and sensitive detection of hazardous risks in food safety.

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