Magnetic Reduced Graphene Oxide/Nickel/Platinum Nanoparticles Micromotors for Mycotoxin Analysis

Magnetic reduced graphene oxide/nickel/platinum nanoparticles (rGO/Ni/PtNPs) micromotors for mycotoxin analysis in food samples were developed for food-safety diagnosis. While the utilization of self-propelled micromotors in bioassays has led to a fundamentally new approach, mainly due to the greatly enhanced target-receptor contacts owing to their continuous movement around the sample and the associated mixing effect, herein the magnetic properties of rGO/Ni/PtNPs micromotors for mycotoxin analysis are additionally explored. The micromotor-based strategy for targeted mycotoxin biosensing focused on the accurate control of micromotor-based operations: 1)on-the-move capture of free aptamers by exploiting the adsorption (outer rGO layer) and catalytic (inner PtNPs layer) properties and 2)micromotor stopped flow in just 2 min by exploiting the magnetic properties (intermediate Ni layer). This strategy allowed fumonisin B1 determination with high sensitivity (limit of detection: 0.70 ng mL(-1)) and excellent accuracy (error: 0.05% in certified reference material and quantitative recoveries of 104 +/- 4% in beer) even in the presence of concurrent ochratoxinA (105-108 +/- 8% in wines). These results confirm the developed approach as an innovative and reliable analytical tool for food-safety monitoring, and confirm the role of micromotors as a new paradigm in analytical chemistry.