Graphene-based Nanocomposites for Detection of Food Toxins

Abstract

Food safety and food health have drawn great attention in health-related research. Food toxins are considered a significant group of chemical compounds that lead to food safety-related challenges and food-related health issues. Food toxins include small molecules or macromolecules such as heavy metals, pesticides, pathogens, and microorganisms that cause food contamination, so their precise detection in food samples is very important in maintaining food health. However, various conventional methods used to analyse the amount of food toxins, such as detection kits or ELISA-based techniques using antibody–antigen conjugation, but their issues such as the requirement for a large amount of sample and high-cost of preparation of antibodies restrict their application. Recently, biosensors based on nanomaterials have been recognised as more sensitive detection methods exploiting nanotechnology in the analysis of food contamination. Biosensors pave the way for measuring food contamination by more facile and sensitive detection of various toxic compounds. Because of their unique properties nanomaterials have been extensively applied in biosensors. Graphene-based nanocomposites are widely employed category of 2D nanostructures that possess distinct properties such as high stability, good optical characteristics, thermal conductivity, extended surface area, and great electrical properties graphene and its derivatives into potential candidates for biosensing applications.