A novel metal–organic frameworks composite-based label-free point-of-care quartz crystal microbalance aptasensing platform for tetracycline detection

•An MOFs and AuNPs-based QCM aptasensor was fabricated for TC sensing.•MOFs-AuNPs nanocomposite were used to enhance the performance of QCM aptasensor.•The QCM aptasensor exhibited wide linear range, good sensitivity, selectivity, and applicability.•This is a first attempt of applying MOFs in the field of QCM aptasensor. A novel label-free point-of-care quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) aptasensing platform based on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was fabricated for tetracycline (TC) detection. MOFs (HKUST-1) and AuNPs were modified onto the sensing interface of QCM sensor to enhance the sensing performance of the QCM aptasensor. TC aptamer with sulfhydryl group was fixed through Au-S bond. The recognition performance of the aptasensor was predicted and verified by the computer simulation. At the optimal conditions, the frequency change of the sensor was adopted for quantitative detection of TC. The prepared QCM aptasensor exhibited a wide linear range from 1 × 10−10 g mL−1 to 1 × 10−5 g mL−1 with low limit of detection (0.8 × 10−11 g mL−1). High sensitivity, good selectivity, acceptable recoveries (87.6–91.4%) in real samples were obtained. For the first time, MOFs were utilized in the construction of QCM aptasensing platform, providing a promising application way of MOFs in the QCM sensing.