Gold nanoparticles/single-stranded DNA-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites based electrochemical biosensor for highly sensitive detection of cholesterol

High density and uniform distribution of the gold nanoparticles functionalized single-stranded DNA modified reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites were obtained by non-covalent interaction. The positive gold nanoparticles prepared by phase inversion method exhibited good dimensional homogeneity and dispersibility, which could readily combine with single-stranded DNA modified reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites by electrostatic interactions. The modification of single-stranded DNA endowed the reduced graphene oxide with favorable biocompatibility and provided the preferable surface with negative charge for further assembling of gold nanoparticles to obtain gold nanoparticles/single-stranded DNA modified reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites with better conductivity, larger specific surface area, biocompatibility and electrocatalytic characteristics. The as-prepared nanocomposites were applied as substrates for the construction of cholesterol oxidase modified electrode and well realized the direct electron transfer between the enzyme and electrode. The modified gold nanoparticles could further catalyze the products of cholesterol oxidation catalyzed by cholesterol oxidase, which was beneficial to the enzyme-catalyzed reaction. The as-fabricated bioelectrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic performance for the cholesterol with a linear range of 7.5–280.5 µmol·L−1, a low detection limit of 2.1 µmol·L−1, good stability and reproducibility. Moreover, the electrochemical biosensor showed good selectivity and acceptable accuracy for the detection of cholesterol in human serum samples.