Highly selective detection of adenine and guanine by NH2-MIL-53(Fe)/CS/MXene nanocomposites with excellent electrochemical performance

Adenine (A) and guanine (G) are mainly found in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) and play a crucial role in genetic information transfer and protein synthesis. In this study, NH 2 -MIL-53(Fe)/CS/MXene nanocomposites were prepared for detecting guanine and adenine. With high specific surface area, excellent water dispersion, and numerous active sites, MXene (transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides) provides a good platform for loading primitive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). At the same time, the problem of poor conductivity and dispersion of MOFs is solved. The electrochemical catalytic oxidation of adenine and guanine of NH 2 -MIL-53 (Fe)/CS/MXene nanocomposites was carried out by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Operating voltage of DPV: 0.7–0.9 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) for G, 1.0–1.2 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) for A, 0.8 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), and 1.1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) for G and A. The concentration ranges for detecting A and G were 3–118 μM and 2–120 μM with detection limits of 0.57 μM and 0.17 μM (S/N = 3), respectively. The nanocomposite was used for detecting G and A in herring sperm DNA, and the content of G and A was found to be about 9 and 11 μM; the RSD values were 3.4 and 1.3%, respectively. Graphical abstract