Iron nanoflorets on 3D-graphene-nickel: A ‘Dandelion’ nanostructure for selective deoxynivalenol detection

Deoxynivalenol (DON), a cosmopolitan mycotoxin found in agricultural commodities causes serious health maladies to human and animals when accidently consumed even at a low quantity. It necessitates selective and sensitive devices to analyse DON as the conventional methods are complex and time-consuming. This study is focused on developing a selective biosensing system using iron nanoflorets graphene nickel (INFGN) as the transducer and a specific aptamer as the biorecognition element. 3D-graphene is incorporated using a low-pressure chemical vapour deposition followed by the decoration of iron nanoflorets using electrochemical deposition. INFGN enables a feasible bio-capturing due to its large surface area. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis confirms the presence of the hydroxyl groups on the INFGN surface, which acts as the linker. Clear Fourier-transform infrared peak shifts affirm the changes with surface chemical modification and biomolecular assembly. The limit of detection attained is 2.11 pg mL-1 and displays high stability whereby it retains 30.65% of activity after 48 h. The designed INFGN demonstrates remarkable discrimination of DON against similar mycotoxins (zearalenone and ochratoxin A). Overall, the high-performance biosensor shown here is an excellent, simple and cost-effective alternative for detecting DON in food and feed samples.