Thermo-responsive 3D nanostructures for enhanced performance in food-poisoning bacterial analysis†

The growing risk of bacterial food poisoning due to global warming has necessitated the development of methods for accurate detection of food-poisoning bacteria. Despite extensive efforts to develop enhanced bacterial-capture methods, challenges associated with the release of the captured bacteria have limited the sensitivity of bacterial detection. In this study, thermo-responsive intelligent 3D nanostructures to improve food-poisoning bacterial analysis performance were fabricated by introducing a thermo-responsive polymer onto an urchin-like 3D nanopillar substrate (URCHANO). A co-polymer of methacryloyl glycinamide and benzyl acrylate (MNAGA-Bn 5%) was introduced as a thermo-responsive co-polymer onto URCHANO using an electron-transfer atom-transfer radical-polymerization method to fabricate Thermo-URCHANO. A temperature-related analysis of the surface properties of Thermo-URCHANO revealed a hydrophobic-to-hydrophilic transition at 37 °C, which facilitated the release of bacteria captured within the nanostructure. In a one-pot analysis to capture and analyze various food-poisoning bacteria in kitchenware (gloves and aprons) and food items (eggs and sausages), mimicking real-life environments, specimens collected using Thermo-URCHANO showed lower C_t values than those collected with uncoated URCHANO, indicating greater bacterial detection. This method could effectively release captured bacteria through temperature changes, improving extraction efficiency during swab collection. While Thermo-URCHANO needs further optimization, it is expected to enhance bacterial analysis performance and sensitivity.