Listeria monocytogenes, which is
abundant in environment, can lead to many kinds of serious illnesses
and even death. Nowadays, indirectly detecting the metabolite biomarker
of L. monocytogenes, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone,
has been verified to be an effective way to evaluate the contamination
of L. monocytogenes. However, this
detection approach is still limited by sensitivity, selectivity, and
ppb-level detection limit. Herein, low-cost and highly sensitive and
selective 3-hydroxy-2-butanone sensors have been proposed based on
the bimetallic AuPd decorated hierarchical flower-like WO3 nanospheres. Notably, the 1.0 wt % AuPd-WO3 based sensors
displayed the highest sensitivity (R
a/R
g = 84 @ 1 ppm) at 250 °C. In addition,
the sensors showed outstanding selectivity, rapid response/recovery
(8/4 s @ 10 ppm), and low detection limit (100 ppb). Furthermore,
the evaluation of L. monocytogenes with
high sensitivity and specificity has been achieved using 1.0 wt %
AuPd-WO3 based sensors. Such a marvelous sensing performance
benefits from the synergistic effect of bimetallic AuPd nanoparticles,
which lead to thicker electron depletion layer and increased adsorbed
oxygen species. Meanwhile, the unique hierarchical nanostructure of
the flower-like WO3 nanospheres benefits the gas-sensing
performance. The AuPd-WO3 nanosphere-based sensors exhibit
a particular and highly selective method to detect 3-hydroxy-2-butanone,
foreseeing a feasible route for the rapid and nondestructive evaluation
of foodborne pathogens.