High-throughput microfluidic fluorescent aptasensor platform integrating dual carbon dots and Zn-TCPP for rapid detection of zearalenone.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a mycotoxin widely present in crops, posing a serious threat to human health. Therefore, it is of great significance to establish a rapid and accurate method for zearalenone detection. In this work, a microfluidic device was produced using 3D printing technology and employed to construct a high-throughput fluorescence analysis platform. The blue fluorescent carbon quantum dots (B-CDs) and green fluorescent carbon quantum dots (G-CDs) were synthesized and incorporated into separate detection areas to achieve different signal responses. The B-CDs-cDNA/Apt1 and G-CDs-Apt2 complexes are pre-positioned in this area. The two-dimensional layered nanomaterial Zn-TCPP is used as an efficient quencher, achieving specific quenching by its adsorption on single-stranded DNA. Finally, high-throughput rapid detection was achieved by identifying RGB values via a smartphone. Under optimal conditions, the detection range of the fluorescent aptasensor is 0.5-500 ng/mL, with a limit of detection of 1.325 pg/mL. Moreover, this high-throughput fluorescent aptasensor demonstrates excellent analytical performance in the detection of real samples. This work provides a novel strategy for the rapid detection of zearalenone.