title: Precisely Determining Ultralow level UO2(2+) in Natural Water with Plasmonic Nanowire Interstice Sensor.
abstract: Uranium is an essential raw material in nuclear energy generation; however, its use raises concerns about the possibility of severe damage to human health and the natural environment. In this work, we report an ultrasensitive uranyl ion (UO2(2+)) detection method in natural water that uses a plasmonic nanowire interstice (PNI) sensor combined with a DNAzyme-cleaved reaction. UO2(2+) induces the cleavage of DNAzymes into enzyme strands and released strands, which include Raman-active molecules. A PNI sensor can capture the released strands, providing strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering signal. The combination of a PNI sensor and a DNAzyme-cleaved reaction significantly improves the UO2(2+) detection performance, resulting in a detection limit of 1 pM and high selectivity. More importantly, the PNI sensor operates perfectly, even in UO2(2+)-contaminated natural water samples. This suggests the potential usefulness of a PNI sensor in practical UO2(2+)-sensing applications. We anticipate that diverse toxic metal ions can be detected by applying various ion-specific DNA-based ligands to PNI sensors.
authors.affiliation: KAIST, Department of Chemistry, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
authors.forename: Raekeun
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gwak
authors.affiliation: KAIST, Department of Chemistry, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
authors.forename: Hongki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: KAIST, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: KAIST, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Yup
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: KAERI, Nuclear Materials Development Division, Daejeon 34057, Korea.
authors.forename: Gyoung-Ja
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: KAERI, Nuclear Materials Development Division, Daejeon 34057, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Ku
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: KAERI, Nuclear Materials Development Division, Daejeon 34057, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Kyu
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.affiliation: KRIBB, BioNanotechnology Research Center and BioNano Health Guard Research Center, Daejeon 34141, Korea.|UST, Major of Nanobiotechnology and Bioinformatics, Daejeon 34113, Korea.
authors.forename: Taejoon
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: KAIST, Department of Chemistry, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
authors.forename: Bongsoo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D002232:Carbocyanines / Q000737:chemistry; D021881:DNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry; D007477:Ions / Q000737:chemistry*; D053770:Nanowires; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014501:Uranium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002232:Carbocyanines; D021881:DNA, Catalytic; D007477:Ions; C085321:cyanine dye 5; D014867:Water; D014501:Uranium