Microfluidic Electrochemical Aptameric Assay Integrated On-Chip: A Potentially Convenient Sensing Platform for the Amplified and Multiplex Analysis of Small Molecules

Aptamers are artificial oligonucleotides that have been widely employed to design biosensors (i.e., aptasensors). In this work, we report a microfluidic electrochemical aptamer-based sensor (MECAS) by constructing Au-Ag dual-metal array three-electrode on-chip for multiplex detection of small molecules. In combination with the microfluidic channels covering on the glass chip, different targets are transported to the Au electrodes integrated on different positions of the chip. These electrodes are premodified by different kinds of aptamers, respectively, to fabricate different sensing interfaces which can selectively capture the corresponding target. It is an address-dependent sensing platform; thus, with the use of only one electrochemical probe, multitargets can be recognized and detected according to the readout on a corresponding aptamer-modified electrode. In the sensing strategy, the electrochemical probe, [Ru(NH3)(6)](3+) (RuHex), which can quantitatively bind to surface-confined DNA via electrostatic interaction, was used to produce chronocoulometric signal; Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) were used to improve the sensitivity of the sensor by amplifying the detection signals. Moreover, the sensing interface fabrication, sample incubation, and electrochemical detection were all performed in microfluidic channels. By using this detection chip, we achieved the multianalysis of two model small molecules, ATP, and cocaine, in mixed samples within 40 min. The detection limit of ATP was 3 x 10(-10) M, whereas the detection limit of cocaine was 7 x 10(-8) M. This Au-Ag dual metal electrochemical chip detector integrated MECAS was simple, sensitive, and selective. Also it is similar to a dosimeter which accumulates signal upon exposure. It held promising potential for designing electrochemical devices with high throughput, high automation, and high integration in multianalysis.