Simultaneous determination and degradation of aflatoxin B1 using a covalent-organic framework initiated hydrogel and aptamer-based colorimetric sensing platform

As the most dangerous mycotoxin, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has caused some food safety issues to be concerned. In this study, a simultaneous detection and degradation method towards AFB1 was established. Covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) were firstly synthesized and directly in situ deposited on the stainless-steel mesh, which would trigger the free-radical polymerization of acrylamide to form a hydrogel coating. The synthesized Pt@Au nanoparticles as a colorimetric signal probe exhibited the high peroxidase catalytic activity (K_m = 0.14 mM, V_max = 4.57 × 10⁻⁸ mol (L s)⁻¹, K_cat = 1.40 × 10⁶ s⁻¹). Coupled with a smartphone application, the prepared “sandwich-structure” colorimetric sensor enables detection of AFB1 with a desirable linear range (0.4–200 μg L⁻¹) and a low detection limit (0.085 μg L⁻¹). The porous channel of the COF-based hydrogel prevents the interference of other macromolecules due to the size effect, resulting in a desirable matrix effect of 92.09–104.71%. The recoveries spiked with different concentrations of AFB1 were 93.75–132.10%. The degradation efficiency of AFB1 could reach 91.74% within 180 min. Through the investigation using ESI–MS, four degraded intermediate products were identified to form the possible degraded pathway. Overall, the fabrication of COFs-based sensing platform provided a new approach to detect and degrade mycotoxins.

Graphical Abstract