Ceria-Nanoparticles-Based Microfluidic Nanobiochip Electrochemical Sensor for the Detection of Ochratoxin-A

Ochratoxin-A (OTA) is a fungal mycotoxin that is present in most of the food stuff, and shows adverse effects on human beings. Therefore, the rapid and accurate detection of OTA is necessary. Here, ceria nanoparticles based microfluidic nanobiochip was fabricated for the electrochemical detection of OTA. Ceria nanoparticles were synthesized using a chemical co-precipitation method and characterized by various techniques. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the formation of fluorite cubic structure. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) exhibited the formation of very small size (4-5nm) with nearly spherical shape nanoparticles. Microfluidic nanobiochip was fabricated using 300m microfluidic channel using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Simultaneously, indium tin oxide (ITO) coated Corning glass was used for the fabrication of immunoelectrodes platform using antibodies (anti-OTA) for the OTA detection. The detection range was achieved from 350pg ml(-1) to 10 ng ml(-1) with sensitivity of 7.5A ng(-1) mL cm(-2), without any interference effect using differential pulse voltammetry.