Synthesis of silver nanoparticle-hollow titanium phosphate sphere hybrid as a label for ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of human interleukin-6

A silver nanoparticle-hollow titanium phosphate sphere (AgNP-TiP) hybrid is successfully synthesized and used as a label for electrochemical detection of human interleukin-6 (IL-6). Hollow TiP spheres with a diameter of 430 nm and an average thickness of 40 nm are synthesized by a template approach. The AgNPs are incorporated in situ into the TiP shell via an exchange process. The as-prepared AgNP-TiP hybrid shows outstanding biocompatibility, good dispersity and solubility in water, and high silver loading properties (289.2 mg of silver in 1.0 g of TiP). These advantages make the AgNP-TiP hybrid an effective candidate as an amplification label in immunoassay systems. Herein, the as-prepared AgNP-TiP hybrid is attached to a signal antibody (Ab(2) ) to produce Ab(2) -AgNP-TiP labels in the fabrication of an electrochemical immunosensor. The nanoparticle-based amplification labels, upon coupling with a magnetic sensing array, give rise to an extremely sensitive response to IL-6 in a linear range of 0.0005-10 ng mL(-1) with a detection limit of 0.1 pg mL(-1) . The proposed sensor exhibits high specificity, good reproducibility, and long-term stability, and may be a promising technique for protein and DNA detection.