Boosting the Photocatalytic Ability of TiO2 Nanosheet Arrays for MicroRNA-155 Photoelectrochemical Biosensing by Titanium Carbide MXene Quantum Dots

Abstract

The electrodes of two-dimensional (2D) titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanosheet arrays were successfully fabricated for microRNA-155 detection. The (001) highly active crystal face was exposed to catalyze signaling molecules ascorbic acid (AA). Zero-dimensional (0D) titanium carbide quantum dots (Ti3C2Tx QDs) were modified to the electrode as co-catalysts and reduced the recombination rate of the charge carriers. Spectroscopic methods were used to determine the band structure of TiO2 and Ti3C2Tx QDs, showing that a type Ⅱ heterojunction was built between TiO2 and Ti3C2Tx QDs. Benefiting the advantages of materials, the sensing platform achieved excellent detection performance with a wide liner range, from 0.1 pM to 10 nM, and a low limit of detection of 25 fM (S/N = 3).