Construction of efficient electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer sensor based on SnO2/SnS2QDs-Ru@IRMOF-3 composite for sensitive detection of procalcitonin

An efficient electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) method is proposed which combines the luminescent materials of tris(4,4′-dicarboxylicacid-2,2′-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) (energy donor) and tin dioxide and tin disulfide quantum dots (SnO 2 /SnS 2 QDs) (energy acceptor) into the isoreticular metal − organic framework-3 (IRMOF-3) material to form a composite. In this mode, the distance between the energy donor and the acceptor was greatly shortened, reducing the energy loss, and thereby effectively improving RET efficiency and further significantly improving the ECL signal. The obtained composite (SnO 2 /SnS 2 QDs-Ru@IRMOF-3) was combined with sandwich immunoreaction to construct an ECL immunosensor for the sensitive detection of procalcitonin (PCT). Under the optimized experimental conditions with a working potential of − 1.48 V (vs Ag/AgCl), the proposed PCT biosensor exhibited a linear concentration range of 1 × 10 −4 –200 ng mL −1 , with a detection limit of 0.029 pg mL −1 ( S / N  = 3). The biosensor was used to detect PCT in actual samples. The biosensor has broad application prospects in biological analysis and clinical diagnosis due to its high sensitivity, good selectivity, and good stability. Graphical abstract