Amino acid-modulating gold nanoparticle sensor array: an express metal ion recognition system

Abstract

Metal ions (MIs) are necessary for biological growth and development, but they may also harm the health of organisms. The quantitative detection and classification of MIs are of great significance. In this study, we report a novel, fast, simple and high throughput colorimetric sensor array for MI discrimination. By employing the soft and weak chemical bond ability of key formula, we successfully increased the array sensitivity by reducing cross-response specificity to achieve high-throughput detection at low-concentration. Pattern recognition shows the outstanding discrimination ability of the developed array for 18 MIs at 10 μM. In addition, the Euclidean distance of ΔRGB values (the change in value of red, green and blue signal channel in the RGB color model) exhibits a positive linear correlation, which is demonstrated by model ions (Cu²⁺). Moreover, the cross validation accuracy for the discrimination of 18 MIs in human plasma was found to be 88.9%, which indicates great potential in practical detection using our array.