Development of a gliadin immunosensor incorporating gold nanourchin, molybdenum disulfide, titanium dioxide, and Nafion for enhanced electrochemiluminescence

Gluten contamination is a constant risk for people with celiac disease (CD), necessitating the development of specific and ultra-sensitive methods for detecting Gliadin. Here, we report the first use of a screen-printed gold electrode (SPGE) modified with a novel nanocomposite of gold nanourchin/molybdenum disulfide/titanium dioxide (AuNU/MoS2/TiO2) in Nafion to detect Gliadin using electrochemiluminescence (ECL). The nanocomposite enhanced ECL intensity by 5.6 times compared with the bare SPGE. The immunosensor had a linear detection range of 0.005-500 pg/mL, with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.005 pg/mL, the lowest among other Gliadin immunosensors. The immunosensor exhibited high selectivity, reproducibility, and stability, and demonstrated excellent recoveries (98.0%-104.9%) of Gliadin from real samples. The proposed immunosensor has the potential to provide a rapid and accurate gluten detection tool for the food industry, and to help protect CD patients against gluten exposure.

Automated summary

In this study, a screen-printed gold electrode modified with a novel nanocomposite was used to detect Gliadin using electrochemiluminescence. The nanocomposite enhanced the intensity of electrochemiluminescence by 5.6 times compared to the bare gold electrode. The immunosensor showed a linear detection range of 0.005-500 pg/mL, with the lowest limit of detection among other Gliadin immunosensors. It exhibited high selectivity, reproducibility, stability, and excellent recoveries from real samples.