Lead ions (Pb2+) are used in the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparations because they are highly toxic to human health. At present, sophisticated analytical instrumentation and complicated procedures for sample analysis are needed for the determination of Pb2+. Herein, a simple, fast, and sensitive peptide-modified nanochannel sensor to detect Pb2+ in TCM is reported, which is based on a Pb2+-specific peptide modified porous anodized aluminum membrane (PAAM). This peptide-based nanochannel clearly has the highest selectivity for Pb2+ when compared to other heavy metal ions, including As2+, Cd3+, Co2+, Cr2+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Hg2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+. Based on linear ranges from 0.01 to 0.16 μM and 10 to 100 μM, the detection limit was calculated to be 0.005 μM. Moreover, this peptide-based nanochannel sensor was successfully used to detect Pb2+ in complex TCM samples. In addition, when compared with the gold standard atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) method, the recovery of the peptide-modified nanochannel sensor was between 87.7% and 116.8%. The experimental results prove that this new sensor is able to achieve accurate detection of Pb2+ in TCM samples. Thus, this sensor system could provide a simple assay for sensitive and selective detection of Pb2+ in TCM, thereby showing great potential in the practical application for the quality control of heavy metals in TCM.

中文翻译：

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基于纳米通道的传感器用于检测中药中的铅离子。

铅离子 (Pb2+) 用于中药 (TCM) 制剂的质量控制，因为它们对人体健康具有剧毒。目前，Pb2+的测定需要精密的分析仪器和复杂的样品分析程序。本文报道了一种简单、快速、灵敏的肽修饰纳米通道传感器，用于检测中药中的 Pb2+，该传感器基于 Pb2+ 特异性肽修饰多孔阳极铝膜 (PAAM)。与其他重金属离子（包括 As2+、Cd3+、Co2+、Cr2+、Cu2+、Fe3+、Hg2+、Mg2+、Mn2+、Ni2+ 和 Zn2+）相比，这种基于肽的纳米通道显然对 Pb2+ 具有最高的选择性。根据0.01至0.16 μM和10至100 μM的线性范围，计算出检测限为0.005 μM。此外，这种基于肽的纳米通道传感器已成功用于检测复杂中药样品中的Pb2+。此外，与金标准原子吸收分光光度法（AAS）相比，肽修饰纳米通道传感器的回收率在87.7%至116.8%之间。实验结果证明该新型传感器能够实现中药样品中Pb2+的准确检测。因此，该传感器系统可以为中药中Pb2+的灵敏和选择性检测提供简单的检测方法，从而在中药重金属质量控制的实际应用中显示出巨大的潜力。