Smartphones and Test Paper-Assisted Ratiometric Fluorescent Sensors for Semi-Quantitative and Visual Assay of Tetracycline Based on the Target-Induced Synergistic Effect of Antenna Effect and Inner Filter Effect

Development of selective and sensitive methods for on-site assay of tetracycline (TC) is of great significance for public health and food safety. Herein, a valid ratiometric fluorescence strategy using g-C3N4 nanosheets coupled with Eu3+ is designed for the assay of TC. In this strategy, both Eu3+ and g-C3N4 nanosheets serve as the recognition units of TC. The blue fluorescence of g-C3N4 nanosheets can be quenched by TC via the inner filter effect (IFE); meanwhile, the red fluorescence of Eu3+ can be enhanced by TC through the antenna effect (AE). The synergistic effect of AE and IFE caused by TC makes the developed ratiometric fluorescent sensor display a wide linear range for TC from 0.25 to 80 μM with a detection limit of 6.5 nM and a significant fluorescence color evolution from blue to red. Given its simplicity, free-label, excellent selectivity, high sensitivity, and recognizable color change, point-of-care testing systems, including smartphones and test paper-based assays, are developed for the visual sensing of TC. The integration of smartphones and test paper on a ratiometric fluorescent sensor greatly reduces the detection cost and time, providing a promising method for the qualitative discernment and semi-quantitative assay of TC on-site. Moreover, the potential application of the approach is also verified by detecting TC in milk.