Ultrasensitive and highly selective detection of strontium ions

Lijuan Feng, Hui Wang, Tingting Liu, Tiantian Feng, Meng Cao, Jiacheng Zhang, Tao Liu, Zhanhu Guo, Costas Galiotis, Yihui Yuan () and Ning Wang ()
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Lijuan Feng: Hainan University
Hui Wang: Hainan University
Tingting Liu: Hainan University
Tiantian Feng: Hainan University
Meng Cao: Hainan University
Jiacheng Zhang: Hainan University
Tao Liu: Hainan University
Zhanhu Guo: Northumbria University
Costas Galiotis: University of Patras
Yihui Yuan: Hainan University
Ning Wang: Hainan University

Nature Sustainability, 2023, vol. 6, issue 7, 789-796

Abstract: Abstract Strontium-90 is one of the most frequently released radioactive products in waste discharged from nuclear reactors. With a long half-life and chemical similarity to calcium, this radioisotope takes hundreds of years to decay to negligible levels and can accumulate in the food chain and bones, resulting in serious health hazards. As a result, there is growing interest in its fate and dispersion in the environment. However, the identification of 90Sr remains a challenge due to the absence of characteristic energy rays signifying its presence. Here we show a biosensor that enables the detection of Sr2+ ions in an ultrasensitive and highly selective manner. Our approach takes advantage of a fluorogenic dye, thioflavin T, which triggers the folding of DNA to form guanine-quadruplex structures. Owing to the high binding affinity of this DNA structure, on exposure to a trace amount of Sr2+ ions, thioflavin T is readily replaced, leading to attenuation of the fluorescence intensity and a detection limit of 2.11 nM. Our work could contribute to the sustainability of nuclear power by providing a technological solution to monitor the transportation of radioactive strontium pollution in the environment, a notable advance, especially after the recent Fukushima nuclear incident.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-023-01095-8

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