A smartphone-assisted sensing hydrogels based on UCNPs@SiO2-phenol red nanoprobes for detecting the pH of aquatic products

Yunrui Cao; Yu Song; Xiaowei Fan; Lei Ma; Tingyu Feng; Junpeng Zeng; Changhu Xue; Jie Xu

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139428

A smartphone-assisted sensing hydrogels based on UCNPs@SiO₂-phenol red nanoprobes for detecting the pH of aquatic products

Food Chem. 2024 Apr 24:451:139428. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139428. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yunrui Cao¹, Yu Song², Xiaowei Fan³, Lei Ma⁴, Tingyu Feng⁵, Junpeng Zeng³, Changhu Xue⁶, Jie Xu⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Marine Food Processing & Safety Control, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, No. 1299, Sansha Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, PR China. Electronic address: caoyunrui2020@stu.ouc.edu.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Marine Food Processing & Safety Control, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, No. 1299, Sansha Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, PR China. Electronic address: songyu@ouc.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Marine Food Processing & Safety Control, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, No. 1299, Sansha Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, PR China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Marine Food Processing & Safety Control, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, No. 1299, Sansha Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, PR China. Electronic address: malei@ouc.edu.cn.
⁵ Qingdao Institute of Marine Bioresources for Nutrition & Health Innovation, No. 106, Xiangyang Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266109, PR China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Marine Food Processing & Safety Control, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, No. 1299, Sansha Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, PR China; Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266235, PR China. Electronic address: xuech@ouc.edu.cn.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Marine Food Processing & Safety Control, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, No. 1299, Sansha Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, PR China. Electronic address: xujie9@ouc.edu.cn.

PMID: 38678665
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139428

Abstract

For some aquatic products, pH has been considered a useful index to reflect the changes in materials during the loss of freshness. Based on the inner filter effect (IFE) between deprotonated phenol red (PR) and upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), UCNPs coated with PR-doped SiO₂ shell were embedded in agarose hydrogel to develop a smartphone-assisted method for pH sensing. With the enhancement of pH response using a phase transfer agent (i.e., tetra butyl ammonium hydroxide, TBAH), the proposed senor realized the colorimetric and fluorescence detection of pH in the range of pH 6.6-8 and pH 6-8, respectively. The sensor also showed satisfied reversibility when switched between pH 6 and 8 for at least 5 cycles. Moreover, this sensor displayed great sensitivity, stability, and portability in analyzing actual fish, shrimp, and shellfish samples, providing a new sight for evaluating the freshness of aquatic products.

Keywords: Agarose; Freshness; Sensor; Shrimp; pH indicator.