Upconversional Nanoprobes with Highly Efficient Energy Transfer for Ultrasensitive Detection of Alkaline Phosphatase

Sensitive detection of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in human serum is important for diagnosis of various diseases. In this work, a novel sandwich-structured upconversion nanoparticle, NaYF₄:Yb/Er@NaErF₄@NaYF₄, is fabricated to construct an upconversional nanoprobe for ultrasensitive detection of phosphate and ALP activity. The inner shell of NaErF₄ bridges the emitters in the core with the external luminescence quenchers to greatly improve the energy transfer efficiency. The quencher, herein, is a coordination complex formed between sulfosalicylic acid and ferric ions. Owing to the higher affinity for phosphate, ferric ions dissociate from the complex and potently combine with phosphate ions, thus interrupting the energy transfer process and recovering the luminescence. This upconversional nanoprobe shows rapid and sensitive detection of phosphate with a limit of detection of 2.5 nM. Because ALP catalyzes the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl phosphate to form p-nitrophenol and inorganic phosphate ions, the nanoprobe is further utilized to achieve sensitive detection of ALP with a limit of detection of 0.5 μU/mL. This novel strategy offers a new opportunity for developing sensitive upconversional nanoprobes and many other energy transfer-based applications.