PdPtRu trimetallic nanozymes and application to electrochemical immunosensor for sensitive SARS-COV-2 antigen detection

Herein, a ternary PdPtRu nanodendrite as novel trimetallic nanozyme was reported, which possessed excellent peroxidase-like activity as well as electro-catalytic activity on account of the synergistic effect between the three metals. Based on the excellent electro-catalytic activity of trimetallic PdPtRu nanozyme toward the reduction of H2O2, the trimetallic nanozyme was applied to construct a brief electrochemical immunosensor for SARS-COV-2 antigen detection. Concretely, trimetallic PdPtRu nanodendrite was used to modify electrode surface, which not only generated high reduction current of H2O2 for signal amplification, but also provided massive active sites for capture antibody (Ab1) immobilization to construct immunosensor. In the presence of target SARS-COV-2 antigen, SiO2 nanosphere labeled detection antibody (Ab2) composites were introduced on the electrode surface according sandwich immuno-reaction. Due to the inhibitory effect of SiO2 nanosphere on the current signal, the current signal was decreased with the increasing target SARS-COV-2 antigen concentration. As a result, the proposed electrochemical immunosensor presented sensitive detection of SARS-COV-2 antigen with linear range from 1.0 pg/mL to 1.0 μg/mL and limit of detection down to 51.74 fg/mL. The proposed immunosensor provide a brief but sensitive antigen detection tool for rapid diagnosis of COVID-19. [Display omitted] •PdPtRu trimetallic nanozyme was a versatile signal amplification tool for biosensors.•A brief and sensitive electrochemical immunosensor was developed for SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection.•The proposed electrochemical immunosensor exhibited good sensitivity for SARS-CoV-2 antigen detction .