Flower-like ZnO nanostructure based electrochemical DNA biosensor for bacterial meningitis detection

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures possessing flower-like morphology have been synthesised onto platinized silicon substrate by simple and economical hydrothermal method. The interaction of physically immobilized single stranded thiolated DNA (ss th-DNA) probe of N. meningitides onto the nanostructured ZnO (ZNF) matrix surface have been investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impeadance spectroscopy (EIS). The electrochemical sensing response behaviour of the DNA bioelectrode (ss th-DNA/ZNF/Pt/Si) has been studied by both differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) as well as impedimetric techniques. The fabricated DNA biosensor can quantify wide range of the complementary target ss th-DNA in the range 5–240ngμl−1 with good linearity (R=0.98), high sensitivity (168.64μAng−1μlcm−2) and low detection limit of about 5ngμl−1. Results emphasise that the fabricated flower-like ZnO nanostructures offer a useful platform for the immobilization of DNA molecules and could be exploited for efficient detection of complementary target single stranded DNA corresponding to N. meningitides. •DNA biosensor based on flower-like ZnO nanostructures for Meningitis detection has been reported.•ZnO nanostructures have been synthesized by very simple and economical hydrothermal method.•The fabricated DNA biosensor, insures a highly developed active surface for DNA immobilization.•Very high sensitivity, wide detection range of the target DNA along with long stability has been observed.