Microfabricated Gold Aptasensors for the Label-Free Electrochemical Assay of Oxytetracycline Residues in Milk

In this work, we describe a new type of electrochemical aptasensor for the label-free detection of oxytetracycline (OTC). Thin-film gold electrodes were fabricated through sputtering gold on a Kapton film, followed by the immobilization of a thiol-modified aptamer on the electrode surface. The selective capture of OTC at the aptamer-functionalized electrodes was monitored electrochemically with the use of the [Fe(CN)6]4−/[Fe(CN)6]3− redox probe. Different experimental variables were studied, through which the metrological features for OTC determination were derived. Finally, the developed sensor was implemented to achieve the detection of OTC in a spiked milk sample.