A novel electrochemiluminescence sensor based on NiCo NCs@C3N QDs nanocomposites with poly-L-cysteine as co-reaction accelerator for ultrasensitive detection of vitamin K1

Lingya Ning; Fei Yang; Zixiao Wang; Ming Yu; Junping Wang

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.142775

A novel electrochemiluminescence sensor based on NiCo NCs@C₃N QDs nanocomposites with poly-L-cysteine as co-reaction accelerator for ultrasensitive detection of vitamin K₁

Food Chem. 2025 Jan 6:471:142775. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.142775. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lingya Ning¹, Fei Yang¹, Zixiao Wang², Ming Yu³, Junping Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, 29 The Thirteenth Road, Tianjin Economy and Technology Development Area, Tianjin 300457, PR China.
² Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, PR China.
³ Research Institute of Food Crops, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No.403 Nanchang Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830091, PR China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, 29 The Thirteenth Road, Tianjin Economy and Technology Development Area, Tianjin 300457, PR China; Research Institute of Food Crops, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No.403 Nanchang Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830091, PR China. Electronic address: wangjp@tust.edu.cn.

PMID: 39798379
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.142775

Abstract

A novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor based on eco-friendly C₃N QDs was constructed for the ultrasensitive detection of VK₁. The synthesized NiCo nanocages (NiCo NCs) with large specific surface area and high catalytic activity were used to effectively load C₃N QDs, forming the nanocomposites (NiCo NCs@C₃N QDs) with good luminescent properties. After grafting NiCo NCs@C₃N QDs onto poly-L-cysteine film, the ECL system achieved multiple signal amplification, which was due to the fact that poly-L-cysteine as a co-reactant accelerator sped up the generation of more SO₄^-• from S₂O₈^2-. Under the optimal conditions, the ECL sensor exhibited a wide detection range for VK₁ from 1.0 × 10^-9 to 5.0 × 10^-5 mol/L and a low detection limit of 1.65 × 10^-10 mol/L. Furthermore, the spiked recoveries in milk, apples, and celery were in the range of 83.50 %-105.32 %, proving the feasibility of the prepared ECL sensor in actual sample detection.

Keywords: Electrochemiluminescence; Prussian blue analogues; Quantum dots; Vitamin K(1).