A novel label-free electrochemical immunosensor based on the enhanced catalytic currents of oxygen reduction by AuAg hollow nanocrystals for detecting carbohydrate antigen 199.

Herein, bimetallic alloyed AuAg hollow nanocrystals (AuAg HNCs) were prepared by a simple one-pot aqueous method using polycytidysic acid (PCA) as the green growth-directing agent. The novel immunosensor for carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199) was further constructed based on the enhanced catalytic currents of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by AuAg HNCs. By virtue of the good biocompatibility and catalytic activity of AuAg HNCs, the immunosensor exhibited superior analytical performance for the assay of CA199 under the optimal experimental conditions, the ORR signals linearly decreased with the increased CA199 concentrations in the range of 1 ~ 30UmL-1, with the low detection limit of 0.228UmL-1, improved stability, reproducibility and selectivity.