Boronic Acid-Containing Stimuli-Responsive Polymers Modified Nanopores for Label-Free Dual-Signal-Output Detection of Glucose

Herein, a dual-signal-output glass nanopore system was developed for sensing glucose. Upon binding glucose, the boronic acid-containing stimuli-responsive polymer underwent a wettability switch and pKa shift. When the polymer was immobilized on the inner wall of nanopore, the nanopore offered a sensitive method for evaluating glucose by ion rectification. Besides, due to the electrostatic assembly of cationic pyrene onto the glucose-bound anionic polymer, the pyrene excimer emission was observed. By separating the substrate binding and fluorescence reporting process, this work avoided the fluorescence labeling of the target and nanopore, thus simplifying the design of dual-signal-output nanopore for potential point-of-care test.

Automated summary

A dual-signal-output glass nanopore system was developed for sensing glucose by modifying the boronic acid-containing stimuli-responsive polymer and electrostatic assembly of cationic pyrene. By immobilizing the polymer on the inner wall of the nanopore, sensitive evaluation of glucose was achieved through ion rectification, while observing pyrene excimer emission. This design simplifies the detection process by avoiding fluorescence labeling of the target and nanopore.