One of the most effective ways to detect and measure antibiotics is to detect their biomarkers. The best biomarker for the control and detection of oxytetracycline (OTC) is the OTC-specific aptamer. In this study, a novel, rapid, and label-free aptamer-based electrochemical biosensor (electrochemical aptasensor) was designed for OTC determination based on a newly synthesized nanocomposite including multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and chitosan (CS), as well as nanosheets to modify a glassy carbon electrode, which extremely enhanced electrical conductivity and increased the electrode surface to bind well with the amine-terminated OTC-specific aptamer through self-assembly. The (MWCNTs-AuNPs/CS-AuNPs/rGO-AuNPs) nanocomposite modified electrode was synthesized using a layer- by-layer modification method which had the highest efficiency for better aptamer stabilization. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used to investigate and evaluate the electrochemical properties and importance of the synthesized nanocomposite in different steps. The designed aptasensor was very sensitive for measuring the OTC content of milk samples, and the results were compared with those of our previously published paper. Based on the calibration curve, the detection limit was 30.0 pM, and the linear range was 1.00–540 nM for OTC. The repeatability and reproducibility of the aptasensor were obtained for 10.0 nM of OTC with a relative standard deviation (RSD%) of 2.39% and 4.01%, respectively, which were not affected by the coexistence of similar derivatives. The measurement in real samples with the recovery range of 93.5% to 98.76% shows that this aptasensor with a low detection limit and wide linear range can be a good tool for detecting OTC.

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In this paper, an electrochemical technique is introduced for the determination of streptomycin (STR) in the presence of oxytetracycline (OTC) in milk samples. A novel bifunctional modified screen-printed electrode (SPE) modified with oracet blue, silver nanoparticles, and graphene oxide (OB/SNPs/GO/SPE) was fabricated. The modified electrode plays a catalyzer role for electrooxidation of STR at pH = 7.0 and reveals a facile a separation between the oxidation peaks of STR and OTC. Calculation of kinetic parameters such as the electron transfer coefficient α and the heterogeneous rate constant k´ of STR at the OB/SNPs/GO/SPE as 8.1 ± 0.07 cm s−1 and 0.32 have been obtained based on the theoretical model of Andrieux and Saveant. A differential pulse voltammetric measurement demonstrates two linear dynamic ranges, 0.4 to 240.0 nM and 240.0 to 720.0 nM and a detection limit of 0.17 nM for STR. The sensitivities of the OB/SNPs/GO/SPE towards the oxidation of STR in the absence and presence of OTC were 2.625 × 10−1 and 2.633 × 10−1 µA/µM, respectively.

The ultra-high frequency EMPAS (electromagnetic piezoelectric acoustic sensor) device is composed of an electrode-less quartz disc in which shear oscillation is induced by an AC-powered magnetic coil located 30 μm below the substrate. This configuration allows the instigation of high acoustic harmonics (in the region of 49th–53rd), with the resulting enhanced analytical sensitivity for biosensor purposes compared to the conventional thickness-shear mode device. In this paper, we introduce significant improvements to the operation of the system with respect to sensing applications. This includes a new interface program and the capability to measure the acoustic quality factor not available in the prototype version. The enhanced configuration is subject to testing through biosensor detection of surface adsorption of biological macromolecules, which include β-casein, and a gelsolin-actin complex.