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Peptide-Mediated Nanopore Detection of Uranyl Ions in Aqueous Media
journal contribution
posted on 2017-05-04, 00:00 authored by Golbarg
M. Roozbahani, Xiaohan Chen, Youwen Zhang, Ruiqi Xie, Rui Ma, Dien Li, Huazhong Li, Xiyun GuanUranium
is one of the most common radioactive contaminants in the
environment. As a major nuclear material in production, environmental
samples (like soil and groundwater) can provide signatures on uranium
production activity inside the facility. Thus, developing a new and
portable analytical technology for uranium in aqueous media is significant
not only for environmental monitoring, but also for nonproliferation.
In this work, a label-free method for the detection of uranyl (UO22+) ions is developed by monitoring the translocation
of a peptide probe in a nanopore. Based on the difference in the number
of peptide events in the absence and presence of uranyl ions, nanomolar
concentration of UO22+ ions could be detected
in minutes. The method is highly selective; micromolar concentrations
of Cd2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, Hg2+, Th4+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ would not interfere with the detection of UO22+ ions. In addition, simulated water samples were
successfully analyzed.