Ultrasensitive self-driven photoelectrochemical aptasensor for lincomycin detection based on oxygen vacancy-tunable BiOBr nanosheet coupled with dual-function of N-doped Ti3C2 quantum dots

A high-performance self-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) platform was designed based on 0D N-doped Ti3C2 quantum dots/oxygen vacancies (OVs) engineered 2D BiOBr nanosheets (N-doped Ti3C2 QDs/BiOBr) nanocomposites for sensitive detection of lincomycin (Lin). The synergistic interplay between 0D N-doped Ti3C2 QDs and 2D BiOBr can generate the fascinating interface of chemical/electronic coupling to further boost the PEC activity, including efficient charge transfer, extended the light absorption and increased carrier density. Experimental results demonstrated that the PEC response of the prepared OV-riched N-doped Ti3C2 QDs/BiOBr van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures were 9-folds stronger than that of OV-deficient BiOBr. On the basis of the such excellent PEC performance, an ultrasensitive self-driven PEC aptasensor was developed with the assistance of Lin aptamer. The proposed sensor exhibited a wide linear response (1.0 × 10−14 mol/L ∼ 1.0 × 10−8 mol/L), a low detection limit (3.57 × 10−15 mol/L, S/N = 3), excellent selectivity and good reproducibility, which provided a promising tool to detect Lin in real samples. This work not only offered a versatile protocol for a wide variety of PEC detection, but also paved the way for the development of more efficient PEC biosensor. © 2022 The Authors