A novel self-powered aptasensor for environmental pollutants detection based on simple and efficient enzymatic biofuel cell

In the present work, by simply putting the recognition element, aptamers (Apt), on cathode, which is separated from the electricity generating part, anode, a novel self-powered aptasensor (SPA) system based on enzymatic biofuel cell (EBFC) is proposed for the first time to detect environmental pollutant, atrazine (ATZ). This sensing platform is assembled by using glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) modified electrode as bioanode to generate electrons and Apt loaded Au electrode as cathode to recognize targets. By using a redox probe, [Fe(CN)6]3−, as the “key” electron transfer switch, it can sense the target rapidly by the changes of output power density once ATZ is captured by the cathode. A maximum output power density (Pmax) of 15.3 μW cm-2 and a low detection limit of 7.5 nM for ATZ is obtained on this SPA system with outstanding selectivity, stability, and real sample applicability. It is expected to provide a promising and superior self-powered aptasensor platform not only for atrazine, but also for broader hazardous environmental species and practical applications.