Electrochemiluminescence Sensor with Controlled-Release Triggering Electrostatic Attraction Elimination Mechanism for Trenbolone Trace Detection

A controlled-release strategy can meet the needs of sensitive environmental monitoring for pollutants through a self-on/off mode. In this work, an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor with controlled-release triggering electrostatic attraction elimination and biomolecular stimulated response strategies was constructed to detect environmental steroid hormones sensitively. The blocked pores on the aminated mesoporous silica nanocontainers were opened by specific binding between the trenbolone (TB) antigen and the antibody. The released l-cysteine counteracted the negative charge on the MnO₂ NF surface through the redox reaction between -SH and MnO₂, making the electrostatic interaction between the MnO₂ NFs and the Ru(dcbpy)₃²⁺ disappear. Ru(dcbpy)₃²⁺ released an ECL signal on the electrode, thus completing the controlled-release triggering electrostatic attraction elimination strategy. In addition, with the TB antibody as the target and the competition strategy between the TB antigen and the standard substance, the constructed controlled-release ECL biosensor was used to detect the TB standard substance. Moreover, MnO₂ NFs as the substrate of the ECL biosensor increased the active specific surface area of the electrode, effectively catalyzing the production of OH^• and O₂^•-, thus endowing the ECL biosensor with coreactant-catalytic enhancement characteristic and further improving its ECL performance. This sensitive signal response brought about a low limit of detection of 2.53 fg/mL for the constructed ECL biosensor, which contributed a feasible idea for efficient trace analysis of pollutants in the environment.