Capsulation of AuNCs with AIE Effect into Metal–Organic Framework for the Marriage of a Fluorescence and Colorimetric Biosensor to Detect Organophosphorus Pesticides

Organophosphorus
pesticides (OPs) can inhibit the activity of acetylcholinesterase
(AChE) to induce neurological diseases. It is significant to exploit
a rapid and sensitive strategy to monitor OPs. Here, a metal–organic
framework (MOF) acted as a carrier to encapsulate AuNCs, which can
limit the molecular motion of AuNCs, trigger the aggregation-induced
emission (AIE) effect, and exhibit a strong fluorescence with a fluorescence
lifetime and quantum yield of 6.83 μs and 4.63%, respectively.
Then, the marriage of fluorescence and colorimetric signals was realized
on the basis of the dual function of the enzymolysis product from
AChE and choline oxidase (CHO) on AuNCs@ZIF-8. First, it can decompose
ZIF-8 to weaken the restraint on AuNCs, and thus the fluorescence
receded. Second, it can be used as a substrate for the peroxidase
mimics of the released AuNCs to oxidize 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine
(TMB) and a visible blue appeared. Thus, on the basis of the inhibition
of AChE activity by OPs, a fluorescence–colorimetric dual-signal
biosensor was established. In addition, colorimetric paper strips
were exploited to realize a visual semiquantitative detection, and
a smartphone APP was developed to make the visualization results more
precise and realize real-time supervision of pesticide contamination.