Polyaniline Langmuir–Blodgett film based aptasensor for ochratoxin A detection

Ochratoxin A (OTA) produced by Aspergillus Ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum is a very dangerous toxin due to its toxic effects in human beings and its presence in a wide range of food products and cereals. A Langmuir–Blodgett (polyaniline (PANI)–stearic acid (SA)) film based highly sensitive and robust impedimetric aptasensor has been developed for ochratoxin A (OTA) detection. DNA Aptamer (Apt-DNA) specific to OTA has been covalently immobilized onto mixed Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) monolayer comprising of PANI–SA deposited onto indium tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass plates. This Apt-DNA/PANI–SA/ITO aptaelectrode has been characterized using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, respectively. The Apt-DNA/PANI–SA/ITO aptasensor shows detection of OTA by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in the linear range of 0.0001 μg/ml (0.1 ng/ml) to 0.01 μg/ml (10 ng/ml) and 1 μg/ml–25 μg/ml with detection limit of 0.1 ng/ml in 15 min. The Apt-DNA/PANI–SA/ITO aptasensor can be reused ∼13 times. The binding or affinity constant ( K a) of aptamer with OTA, calculated using Langmuir adsorption isotherm, is found be 1.21 × 10 7 M −1.