Fabrication of Aptamer-Modified Paper Electrochemical Devices for On-Site Biosensing

Electrochemical aptamer-based (E-AB) sensors offer a powerful and general means for analyte detection in complex samples for various applications. Paper-based E-AB sensors could enable portable, low-cost, and rapid detection of a broad range of targets, but it has proven challenging to fabricate suitable three-electrode systems on paper. Here, we demonstrate a simple, economic, and environmentally friendly strategy for fabricating aptamer-modified paper electrochemical devices (PEDs) via ambient vacuum filtration. The material, shape, size, and thickness of the three-electrode PED system can be fully customized. We developed aptamer-modified PEDs that enable sensitive and specific detection of small molecules in minimally processed biosamples. The sensitivity and stability of the PEDs are comparable to E-AB sensors based on commercial gold electrodes. We believe our strategy can lead to the development of high performance PEDs for the on-site detection of a variety of analytes.

Automated summary

Electrochemical aptamer-based sensors are powerful tools for analyte detection, and paper-based sensors offer a portable, low-cost, and rapid detection method for a broad range of targets. By using ambient vacuum filtration, we have developed a simple, economic, and environmentally friendly strategy for fabricating aptamer-modified paper electrochemical devices (PEDs) with customizable three-electrode systems, enabling sensitive and specific detection of small molecules in minimally processed biosamples. The sensitivity and stability of these aptamer-modified PEDs are comparable to commercial gold electrode-based E-AB sensors, suggesting the potential for high performance on-site detection of various analytes.