Publication detail

Silica quantum dots; an optical nanosensing approach for trace detection of pesticides in environmental and biological samples

Nazir, Fazila Asad, Muhammad Fatima, Lamia Bokhari, Awais Majeed, Saadat Fatima, Batool Mohammed, Abdallah A. A. Karri, Rama Rao

Original Title

Silica quantum dots; an optical nanosensing approach for trace detection of pesticides in environmental and biological samples

Type

journal article in Web of Science

Language

English

Original Abstract

Both the environment and human health have suffered as a result of excessive and irrational pesticide use. The human body is vulnerable to a wide range of illnesses brought on by prolonged exposure to or intake of food contaminated with pesticide residues, including immunological and hormonal abnormalities and the development of certain tumors. Sensors based on nanoparticles stand out from more conventional spectrophotometry analytical methods due to their low detection limits, high sensitivity, and ease of use; that is why the demand for simple, fast, and less expensive sensing methods increases daily and presents myriad uses. Such demands are fulfilled by employing paper-based analytical devices having intrinsic properties. The presented work reports an on-site, easy-to-handle, and disposable paper-based sensing device for performing fast screening along with readout from a smartphone. The fabricated device utilizes luminescent silica quantum dots, immobilized into a paper cellulose matrix, and the resonance energy transfer phenomenon is employed. The silica quantum dots probes were fabricated from citric acid and, by undergoing physical adsorption, were confined on the nitrocellulose substrate in small wax-traced spots. The silica quantum dots were excited by smartphone ultraviolet LED, acting as an energy source and for capturing the image. The obtained LOD is 0.054 μM, and the coefficient of variation is less than 6.1%, comparable to the result obtained by UV–Visible and fluorometric analysis under similar experimental conditions. In addition, high reproducibility (≥9.8%) and high recovery ≥90% were obtained in spiked blood samples. The fabricated sensor sensitively detected pesticides giving a LOD of 2.5 ppm along with the development of yellow color within a short period of 5 min. The sensor functions well when sophisticated instrumentation is not accessible. The presented work shows the potential of the paper strip for the on-site detection of pesticides in biological and environmental samples.

Keywords

Biological samples; Luminescence; Paper-based nanosensing; Pesticide; Silica quantum dots

Authors

Nazir, Fazila; Asad, Muhammad; Fatima, Lamia; Bokhari, Awais; Majeed, Saadat; Fatima, Batool; Mohammed, Abdallah A. A.; Karri, Rama Rao

Released

15. 8. 2023

Publisher

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE525 B ST, STE 1900, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101-4495

Location

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE525 B ST, STE 1900, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101-4495

ISBN

0013-9351

Periodical

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

Year of study

231

Number

2

State

United States of America

Pages count

8

URL

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935123009489?via%3Dihub

BibTex

@article{BUT187360,
  author="Nazir, Fazila and Asad, Muhammad and Fatima, Lamia and Bokhari, Awais and Majeed, Saadat and Fatima, Batool and Mohammed, Abdallah A. A. and Karri, Rama Rao",
  title="Silica quantum dots; an optical nanosensing approach for trace detection of pesticides in environmental and biological samples",
  journal="ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH",
  year="2023",
  volume="231",
  number="2",
  pages="8",
  doi="10.1016/j.envres.2023.116147",
  issn="0013-9351",
  url="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935123009489?via%3Dihub"
}