A novel electrochemical immunosensor based on acetylene black/epoxy-substituted-polypyrrole polymer composite for the highly sensitive and selective detection of interleukin 6

An ultrasensitive immunosensor based on acetylene black (AB)/epoxy-substituted-poly(pyrrole) polymer (EpxS-PPyr) composite coated disposable indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode was fabricated for interleukin 6 (IL 6) detection. The EpxS-PPyr polymer was a promising matrix material to increase the loading capacity of immunosensor owing to its large surface area and abundance of epoxy groups. EpxS-PPyr polymer was synthesized by an esterification reaction and used to attach IL 6 receptor owing to its excellent biocompatibility and good conductivity. The electrochemical signals of the electrodes during the immunosensor fabrication were performed with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry techniques. Additionally, the changes formed on ITO electrode surfaces were followed by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy analyses. Under optimized conditions, the designed biosensor illustrated an ultra-sensitive signal towards IL 6 antigen at a broad concentration range from 0.01 pg/mL to 50 pg/mL. The detection limit and sensitivity were found as 3.2 fg/mL and 0.29 pg−1mLkΩ cm−2, respectively. Acceptable reproducibility, good storage-stability and excellent selectivity were found for IL 6 determination. Moreover, the proposed biosensor was applied to human serums and the recovery rates were ranged from 99.5 to 100.5 indicating acceptable accuracy. The results illustrated that this immunosensor were suitable for detection of IL 6 in clinical samples. [Display omitted] •A label-free electrochemical immunosensor based on acetylene black/EpxS-PPyr polymer composite was developed.•The electrochemical immunosensor for IL 6 showed a linear range of 0.01–50 pg/mL along with excellent performance.•The electrochemical IL 6 immunosensor exhibited high sensitivity with the detection limit of 3.2 fg/mL.•The immunosensing approach accurately detected IL 6 antigen in spiked human serum samples.