A novel enzyme-free electrochemical biosensor for rapid detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa based on high catalytic Cu-ZrMOF and conductive Super P

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is one of the most intractable multidrug-resistant bacteria of nosocomial infections. The conventional detection methods for P. aeruginosa are time-consuming or low detection sensitivity. Here, a novel enzyme-free electrochemical biosensor was constructed to detect P. aeruginosa rapidly and sensitively. Firstly, the ZrMOF with large surface area was synthesized, which offers excellent adsorption. Further, it was connected with a specific amount of Cu2+ to synthesize Cu-ZrMOF with high catalytic activity. Then the Cu-ZrMOF@Aptamer@DNA nanocomposite was composed and served as the signal probe to catalyse the decomposition of H2O2. Moreover, high conductive Super P was introduced to increase the electron transfer for satisfactory detection sensitivity. The proposed biosensor was constructed and used to quantify P. aeruginosa with a wide linearity range of 10–106 CFU mL−1 and a low limit of detection of 2 CFU mL−1 (S/N = 3). Compared with conventional methods, the new method of present biosensor is more sensitive, and less time-consuming (only within 120 min). The analytical performance evaluation indicated that the biosensor exhibits good reproducibility and specificity. Finally, the biosensor was successfully applied to quantify P. aeruginosa in spiked urine samples. These results show that the proposed electrochemical biosensor might be a potential laboratory tool for detecting P. aeruginosa in the clinic. •A biosensor for bacteria was constructed firstly based on synthesized Cu-ZrMOF.•Super P and AuNPs were used to improve the detection sensitivity of biosensor together.•Pseudomonas aeruginosa was quantified by present biosensor rapidly and sensitively.•The method provides a platform for detecting other biomarkers.