Li Yin , Tengbiao Yu , Xinghui Hou , Ying Zhou , Qi Qin , Haijuan Du , Jianjun Wang , Bingbing Fan , Deliang Chen , Rui Zhang
{"title":"Carbon derived hollow α-Fe2O3 nanochains via high-efficiency microwave-assisted synthesis for excellent formaldehyde detection","authors":"Li Yin , Tengbiao Yu , Xinghui Hou , Ying Zhou , Qi Qin , Haijuan Du , Jianjun Wang , Bingbing Fan , Deliang Chen , Rui Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138808","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138808","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Formaldehyde (HCHO) is widely used in manufacturing processes, contributing to its release and buildup as an indoor air pollutant. Timely detection of HCHO is crucial to prevent its severe toxic effects. To enhance the gas-sensing capability toward HCHO, porous α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> hollow nanochains were successfully synthesized using a microwave-assisted method with carbon nanochains as a template. Various characterization techniques and calculation analysis were used to investigate its sensing performance and explore its underlying mechanism. The results revealed that the α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> hollow nanochains, with a large specific surface area of 65.69 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>−1</sup>, are constructed from sub-level α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles in the size range of 8–23 nm. The formation of this structure is primarily attributed to the hotspot effect induced by microwave radiation. The α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> sensor demonstrated superior sensitivity, excellent selectivity, swift response/recovery, and long-term stability in detecting 0.1–50 ppm HCHO vapor at 150 °C. Notably, it exhibited a high response of 122 with a response time of 78 s towards 10 ppm HCHO at 150 °C. The enhanced HCHO-sensing properties can be attributed to the unique structure of porous hollow nanochains with abundant oxygen vacancy defects. This research presents a promising, low-cost, and efficient approach for developing an effective α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> sensor for low-ppm HCHO detection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138808"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145089588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhipeng Wang , Yingchang Jiang , Xueting Chang , Junfeng Li , Xiaojie Zhu , Weixiang Gao , Yuliang Zhang , Dongsheng Wang , Shibin Sun
{"title":"Ultra-sensitive and selective methanol sensor based on crystallinity-engineered LaFeO₃ porous nanoarchitectures","authors":"Zhipeng Wang , Yingchang Jiang , Xueting Chang , Junfeng Li , Xiaojie Zhu , Weixiang Gao , Yuliang Zhang , Dongsheng Wang , Shibin Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138806","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138806","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultra-sensitive detection of methanol is critical for industrial safety, environmental monitoring, and chemical process control. This work reports a novel crystallinity-porosity dual engineering strategy for developing high-performance perovskite ferrite gas sensors with exceptional methanol detection capabilities. Through precisely controlled synthesis conditions (2 °C/min heating rate), we fabricated LaFeO₃ (LFO) porous nanomaterials exhibiting both superior crystallinity and optimal mesoporous architecture. The resulting sensor demonstrates unprecedented performance, including ultrahigh sensitivity (<em>S</em>=300–100 ppm methanol), rapid response/recovery kinetics (23 s/25 s), wide dynamic range (1–1000 ppm), and low optimal operating temperature (150 °C), enabled by crystallinity-induced reduction of carrier density for efficient resistance modulation and three-dimensional mesoporous networks promoting gas diffusion. Density functional theory calculations confirm strong chemisorption at Fe sites (adsorption energy=−0.694 eV) with significant bandgap modulation (ΔE<sub>g</sub>=0.95 eV), while the sensor maintains excellent reproducibility (RSD=3.2 %), long-term stability (>95 % response retention over 56 days), and humidity resistance (152 ± 6.3 response at 70 % RH). These findings establish a new paradigm for designing advanced gas sensors through simultaneous optimization of crystallinity and porosity in perovskite materials, offering both fundamental insights into structure-property relationships and practical solutions for industrial methanol detection applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138806"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145089592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Weifang Ma , Yifan Zhang , Zongke Li , Jiayi Liu , Zhen Zhang , Tianshui Liang , Wen Wang , Ronghan Wei , Junjun Wang , Qiyan Wang
{"title":"Synergistic effect of protonation and oxygen vacancies in polyoxometalates for ppb-level NO2 detection at subzero temperatures","authors":"Weifang Ma , Yifan Zhang , Zongke Li , Jiayi Liu , Zhen Zhang , Tianshui Liang , Wen Wang , Ronghan Wei , Junjun Wang , Qiyan Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138807","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138807","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate detection of nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>) at low concentrations and sub-zero temperatures is essential for environmental monitoring and industrial safety, particularly in cold regions where conventional sensors often fail due to poor sensitivity and slow response. Here, we report a defect-engineered phosphotungstic acid-based sensor that enables ultrasensitive NO<sub>2</sub> detection with a limit of detection down to 0.17 ppb, rapid response/recovery times within 7/9 s, and robust operation even at −10 °C. This high-performance stems from a synergistic interaction between exposed Brønsted acid protons and thermally induced oxygen vacancies, which jointly facilitate NO<sub>2</sub> chemisorption and redox activation. In-situ infrared spectroscopy reveals a dynamic conversion of NO<sub>2</sub> to NO<sub>2</sub><sup>-</sup> and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> on the sensor surface, corroborated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations showing enhanced adsorption energy and substantial charge transfer. Integrating this sensor into a smart NO<sub>2</sub>-responsive ventilation system enables real-time air quality regulation, demonstrating its practical utility in intelligent environmental control. Our findings present a viable route for next-generation gas sensors operable in harsh, low-temperature environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138807"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145089589","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modification-free optofluidic Fabry-Pérot capillary microcavities for ultra-sensitivity biosensing","authors":"Qi Wang , Xuyang Zhao , Yuxiang Li, Ziyue Lin, Mingkai Fan, Yifan Zhang, Yichi zhang, Xiang Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138798","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138798","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultrasensitive optical sensors have become an indispensable device in various fields, such as disease early intervention and personalized treatment, environmental pollution source detection, physical parameters measurement, and analysis of cellular metabolites and derivatives. In this study, we have developed an optofluidic Fabry-Pérot capillary microcavity (FPCM) sensor employing a square-capillary quartz tube for the ultra-sensitivity detection. Benefit from the highly parallel of square capillary side wall and lateral light field confinement, the deposited distributed Bragg reflector have good tolerance to the light walk of loos and diffraction, showing a fascinating quality (<em>Q</em>) factor of 1.0 × 10⁶. Moreover, the high overlap between the optical field and analyte molecules always indicates a high refractive index (<em>RI</em>) sensitivity of 201.1 nm/RIU. As a result, an ultra-high figure of merit (<em>FOM</em>) of 2.2 × 10<sup>5</sup> RIU<sup>−1</sup> and an ultra-low detection limit of 7.11 × 10⁻⁸ RIU can be achieved with the FPCM sensors. The experimental results also demonstrated the FPCM sensor with high repeatability, exceptional long-term stability and remarkably low system noise for multiple in-situ tests with high accuracy. In biosensing applications, we initially assessed the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on protein aggregation by leveraging its non-specific binding effect on goat anti-human immunoglobulin G (Anti-IgG). Both the intensity and wavelength changes can be simultaneously captured with the protein concentration changes, indicating multiparameter sensing is possible on the FPCM. Finally, a typical breast cancer monitoring protein of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) was detected, showing a detection limit for HER2 protein-specific binding as low as 100 ag/mL and an extensive detection range spanning seven orders of magnitude with the PEG-enhanced approach. Notably, the FPCM biosensor exhibits cost-effectiveness, rapid response time, and the capability for ultra-sensitivity detection without labeling or modification, making it as a crucial tool for early cancer screening and disease monitoring, environmental pollution sources detection, and physical parameters measurement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138798"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145089584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Metal-free microRNA-320b electrochemical sensor based on blue light-driven ring-opening metathesis polymerization signal amplification","authors":"Shijin Zhou , Qinyuan Xu , Zhidan Tian , Jinming Kong , Xueji Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138809","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138809","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Developing efficient strategies for the sensitive and accurate detection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) biomarkers is critical for improving early diagnosis and preventive interventions. An electrochemical sensor incorporating a photo-redox mediated ring-opening metathesis polymerization (photo-ROMP) strategy was designed to achieve sensitive and selective detection of microRNA-320b (miRNA-320b), a key biomarker for ESCC. Two DNA strands served as capture probes to form a sandwich structure with miRNA-320b, and the initiator 2-(vinyloxy)ethanol (VEOH) was chemically attached to the DNA terminus. Upon blue LED irradiation, the photosensitizer 2,4,6-Tris(4-methoxyphenyl)pyridinium tetrafluoroborate becomes excited, oxidizes VEOH, generates active radical cations, and initiates the polymerization reaction, thereby amplifying the detection signal. The VEOH-triggered photo-ROMP strategy provides the advantages of metal-free operation, improved sensitivity, and simplified handling. Consistently, the method achieves a remarkably low detection limit of 1.1 fM, demonstrating its high sensitivity. In addition, the sensor exhibits good selectivity, stability and anti-interference ability, and still maintain excellent performance in complex actual samples, showing its application potential in early screening of ESCC.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138809"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145093715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Di-frequency ultrasound synergistic activation of two piezoelectric catalysts for SERS determination of ultratrace chlorothalonil","authors":"Ruitao Zhu , Aihui Liang , Guiqing Wen , Zhiliang Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138766","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138766","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultrasound-driven piezoelectric enhancement is interesting to scientists. These effects are used to fabricate piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for energy harvesting and self-powered sensing. There are no reports about di-frequency ultrasound piezoelectric nanocatalysts in water phase, and their application to SERS quantitative analysis. Therefore, developing a selective and sensitive ultrasound piezoelectric nanocatalysts-SERS method is of great importance. In this study, using piezoelectric nanoquartz (SiO₂) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as substrates, chlorothalonil (CTN) as template molecule, and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PE) as the molecularly imprinted layer, two new nanosurface molecularly imprinted polymer nanocatalysts of SiO₂@PE and PTFE@PE were synthesized via a solvothermal procedure. Under simultaneously applied dual-frequency ultrasonic irradiation (28/80 kHz), the two nanocatalysts significantly enhanced the electron transfer in the 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB)–H₂O₂ reaction, producing the oxidized TMB (TMBox) with strong SERS activity. Binding of CTN to the probe inhibited the catalysis, resulting in the SERS signal decreasing linearly. This strategy notably improved detection sensitivity, increasing the slope ratio of 42.7 times, with detection limit of 5 pmol/L CTN. Based on the results, a reasonable difrequency ultrasound piezoelectric nanocatalytic enhanced mechanism was proposed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138766"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145089640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jun-Tao Niu , Yi-Ru Wang , Chen-Chen Li , Hai-Feng Yin , Qian Xu , Ting Liang , Xu-Ying Liu , Yan-Fei Kang
{"title":"An endoplasmic reticulum-targeted fluorescent probe for detecting polarity and viscosity and its bioimaging in vitro and vivo","authors":"Jun-Tao Niu , Yi-Ru Wang , Chen-Chen Li , Hai-Feng Yin , Qian Xu , Ting Liang , Xu-Ying Liu , Yan-Fei Kang","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138803","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138803","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Revealing the dynamics of intracellular microenvironment (viscosity and polarity) during endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is crucial for the diagnosis of related diseases. Herein, we developed an ER-targeted dual-response fluorescent probe (<strong>XHXA</strong>) for simultaneously detecting polarity and viscosity with large emission spectral separation (>180 nm). By leveraging intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) mechanisms, <strong>XHXA</strong> exhibited excellent responsiveness to polarity and viscosity at emission wavelengths of 482 nm and 665 nm, respectively. Moreover, <strong>XHXA</strong> enabled real-time imaging of ER microenvironment in living cells, and tracking ER stress and autophagy. Meanwhile, reduced polarity and increased viscosity were observed in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) models via <strong>XHXA</strong>. Notably, <strong>XHXA</strong> was first applied to diagnose liver cirrhosis in vivo through monitoring ER viscosity. Thus, this work established a powerful platform for early diagnostics and investigating the physiological and pathological of disease related with ER stress.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138803"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145084297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matteo Valt , Guglielmo Trentini , Pietro Tosato , Giada Bombardelli , Antonio Orlando , Marco Magoni , Rossana Dell’Anna , Andrea Gaiardo , Barbara Fabbri
{"title":"Design of a micro-Raman spectroscopy chamber for operando studies on semiconductor gas sensors","authors":"Matteo Valt , Guglielmo Trentini , Pietro Tosato , Giada Bombardelli , Antonio Orlando , Marco Magoni , Rossana Dell’Anna , Andrea Gaiardo , Barbara Fabbri","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138715","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138715","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work outlines the design and validation of an ambient chamber specifically tailored for confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy investigations on semiconductor gas sensors under operando conditions. The system enables real-time analysis of gas–solid interactions providing a reproducible and versatile platform for the characterization of a wide range of gas-sensing devices. A comprehensive study was carried out, covering chamber design, 3D modeling, integration with a custom data acquisition system, residence time distribution analysis for fluid dynamics assessment, temperature and humidity monitoring. Finally, the system was validated using an indium oxide-based sensor exposed to ethanol. The proposed gas-sensing setup is designed to be easy to fabricate, operate, and maintain. It supports solid-state gas sensors with sub-millimeter active areas and can operate at temperatures up to 500 °C achieving high-resolution spectroscopic measurements. Furthermore, its modular architecture ensures seamless integration with various microscopy platforms, enhancing the quality and flexibility of spectral acquisition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138715"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145084298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dongyue Wang , Mujie Xu , Dongzhi Zhang , Qian Mi , Dunwei Gong , Yanping Zhou , Haiting Wang , Xuzhao Zhang , Kangrui Gong , Runze Zhang , Liping Zhang
{"title":"Multifunctional QCM sensor based on UIO-66-NH2/V2CTx MXene films for detection of formaldehyde gas and respiratory behavior","authors":"Dongyue Wang , Mujie Xu , Dongzhi Zhang , Qian Mi , Dunwei Gong , Yanping Zhou , Haiting Wang , Xuzhao Zhang , Kangrui Gong , Runze Zhang , Liping Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138804","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138804","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this work, a gas sensor based on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) modified with UIO-66-NH<sub>2</sub>/V<sub>2</sub>CT<sub>x</sub> nanocomposite was prepared for the formaldehyde detection. The composite material was fabricated by in-situ synthesis of UIO-66-NH<sub>2</sub> on the surface of V<sub>2</sub>CT<sub>x</sub> MXene. The sensitive layer was sprayed onto the QCM surface to prepare the gas sensor. The UIO-66-NH<sub>2</sub>/V<sub>2</sub>CT<sub>x</sub> sensor exhibited a high sensitivity (13.26 Hz/ppm), short response/recovery time (21/27 s) and low detection limit (100 ppb) to formaldehyde at room temperature. The sensitivity and adsorption behavior of this sensor towards formaldehyde were explained through the special functional groups of UIO-66-NH<sub>2</sub>/V<sub>2</sub>CT<sub>x</sub> and the Langmuir adsorption model. Furthermore, the detection errors caused by humidity variations were reduced by setting the appropriate reference sensor. The fabricated sensor can also be used to detect human breathing behavior. The sensor data were intelligently classified into six breathing patterns through the decision tree model, with an accuracy rate of 97.7 %, which can be used for auxiliary screening of human diseases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138804"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145089594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhi Wang , Wei Liu , Quanyi Yu , Shanchun Yan , Guohua Wang , Weichao Ma
{"title":"Biosensor for bitterness-based plant compounds detection using human bitter taste receptor-derived peptide","authors":"Zhi Wang , Wei Liu , Quanyi Yu , Shanchun Yan , Guohua Wang , Weichao Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138794","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snb.2025.138794","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To deal with environmental pressures and natural enemies, organisms generate a variety of natural products with pharmacological activities. Due to their chemical defense mechanisms, these natural products often have a bitter taste. Cnicin is a bitter sesquiterpene lactone derived from plants, which possesses multiple pharmacological properties such as antibacterial and anti-cancer activities. There were limitations in the detection research of cnicin before, and there is an urgent need for innovative detection strategies. In this study, the molecular docking technique was employed to identify the binding sites of a human taste receptor TAS2R46 for recognizing cnicin. And a taste receptor-derived peptide biosensor (TRP-sensor) for detecting cnicin was fabricated. This biosensor was capable of detecting cnicin at a concentration as low as 1 fM, which is one order of magnitude lower than the lowest detection limit reported so far. The sensor could detect cnicin in real time with high sensitivity and selectivity. Meanwhile, it also showed excellent performance in terms of operation and storage stability, and could accurately detect cnicin in the samples of <em>Centaurea benedicta,</em> a plant rich in cnicin. Therefore, the TRP sensor could be applied to screen for cnicin in natural products and could also be utilized in the food and pharmaceutical industries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":425,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical","volume":"447 ","pages":"Article 138794"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145089540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}