Surface plasmon resonance aptasensor based on niobium carbide MXene quantum dots for nucleocapsid of SARS-CoV-2 detection

A novel label-free surface plasmon resonance (SPR) aptasensor has been constructed for the detection of N-gene of SARS-CoV-2 by using thiol-modified niobium carbide MXene quantum dots (Nb(2)C-SH QDs) as the bioplatform for anchoring N-gene-targeted aptamer. In the presence of SARS-CoV-2 N-gene, the immobilized aptamer strands changed their conformation to specifically bind with N-gene. It thus increased the contact area or enlarged the distance between aptamer and the SPR chip, resulting in a change of the SPR signal irradiated by the laser (He-Ne) with the wavelength (λ) of 633 nm. Nb(2)C QDs were derived from Nb(2)C MXene nanosheets via a solvothermal method, followed by functionalization with octadecanethiol through a self-assembling method. Subsequently, the gold chip for SPR measurements was modified with Nb(2)C-SH QDs via covalent binding of the Au-S bond also by self-assembling interaction. Nb(2)C-SH QDs not only resulted in high bioaffinity toward aptamer but also enhanced the SPR response. Thus, the Nb(2)C-SH QD-based SPR aptasensor had low limit of detection (LOD) of 4.9 pg mL(−1) toward N-gene within the concentration range 0.05 to 100 ng mL(−1). The sensor also showed excellent selectivity in the presence of various respiratory viruses and proteins in human serum and high stability. Moreover, the Nb(2)C-SH QD-based SPR aptasensor displayed a vast practical application for the qualitative analysis of N-gene from different samples, including seawater, seafood, and human serum. Thus, this work can provide a deep insight into the construction of the aptasensor for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in complex environments. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Figure: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00604-021-04974-z.