Detection of Mercury Ion with High Sensitivity and Selectivity Using a DNA/Graphene Oxide Hybrid Immobilized on Glass Slides

Excessive mercury ions (Hg(2+)) cause great pollution to soil/water and pose a major threat to human health. The high sensitivity and high selectivity in the Hg(2+) detection demonstrated herein are significant for the research areas of analytical chemistry, chemical biology, physical chemistry, drug discovery, and clinical diagnosis. In this study, a series of simple, low-cost, and highly sensitive biochips based on a graphene oxide (GO)/DNA hybrid was developed. Hg(2+) is detected with high sensitivity and selectivity by GO/DNA hybrid biochips immobilized on glass slides. The performance of the biosensors can be improved by introducing more phosphorothioate sites and complementary bases. The best limit of detection of the biochips is 0.38 nM with selectivity of over 10:1. This sensor was also used for Hg(2+) detection in Dendrobium. The results show this biochip is promising for Hg(2+) detection.