Sensitive and renewable picloram immunosensor based on paramagnetic immobilisation

Picloram (4-amino-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridincarboxylic acid) is one of the chlorinated pesticides. It is widely used for control of wood plants, wheat, barley and wide range of broadleaf weeds as a plant growth regulator. An immunosensor was developed for detection of picloram concentration in compost extracts and river water. The laccase-picloram was prepared. The magnetic core-shell (Fe3O4-SiO2) nanoparticles were modified with anti-picloram-IgG and attached to the surface of carbon paste electrode (CPE) with the aid of paramagnetism. Following competitive immunoreaction with picloram and the picloram-laccase to form immunocomplex, electrochemical measurement was carried out. After immunoassay, the electrode was immersed in glycinhydrochloric acid buffer or polished with diamond paper for regeneration. The linear range for picloram detection was 1 x 10(-4)-10 mu g mL(-1) with the correlation coefficient of 0.9936, and the detection limit is 1 x 10(-4) mu g mL(-1). The laccase labelled on the picloram for competitive immunoassay showed good activity, and the current response was strong and stable in electrochemical detection. The current reached 95% of the steady-state current within about 100 s. The proposed immunosensor exhibited good precision, sensitivity, selectivity, reusability, and storage stability.