A turn-on fluorescence sensor based on Cu2+ modulated DNA-templated silver nanoclusters for glyphosate detection and mechanism investigation

The abuse application of glyphosate can result in a potential hazard for environment and human, however its ultrasensitive detection remains challenging. Herein, a Cu2+ modulated DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (DNA-AgNCs) sensor was constructed to sensitively determine glyphosate based on the turn-on fluorescence strategy. The fluorescence quenching of DNA-AgNCs occurred with the existence of Cu2+. Upon the presence of glyphosate, the functional groups on the surface of glyphosate could chelate with Cu2+, following the fluorescence recovery of DNA-AgNCs. Through the stoichiometric methods, we unveil that Cu2+-trigged fluorescence quenching mode is a combination of static and dynamic quenching with the static mode being predominant. In DNA-AgNCs/Cu2+ system, the carboxylate, amine, and phosphonate groups of glyphosate interact with Cu2+ through chelation, in which the carboxylate oxygen, the phosphonate oxygen atoms, and the monoprotonated secondary amine nitrogen atom and Cu2+ form chelate rings. This fluorescence sensor showed a desired linearity of glyphosate analysis under the optimum conditions, ranging from 15 to 100 mu g/L with a low detection down to 5 mu g/L. Moreover, the proposed sensor was successfully utilized to measure glyphosate in real samples, indicating a promising application in pesticide residues detection.

Automated summary

An ultrasensitive detection method for glyphosate using a Cu2+-modulated DNA-AgNCs sensor was developed, demonstrating a combination of static and dynamic quenching modes with Cu2+-triggered fluorescence quenching. The sensor showed high linearity for glyphosate analysis in the range of 15-100 μg/L and a low detection limit down to 5 μg/L, making it promising for pesticide residues detection in real samples.