Hydrogen-bonding recognition-induced aggregation of gold nanoparticles for the determination of the migration of melamine monomers using dynamic light scattering

Abstract The migration of melamine monomers from food contact materials has aroused particular attention since the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal in China. However, the determination of melamine monomer’s migratory quantity (MMMQ) has remained an open question because of the complex sample pretreatment and the low sensitivity. Based on the hydrogen bonding interaction between DNA thymine and melamine, this paper described a simple and rapid method focusing on the measurement of MMMQ from melamine tableware by gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). With the presence of probe DNA (p-DNA), the GNPs were stable in NaCl solution (0.06 M), whereas they became aggregated when the p-DNA hybridized with melamine. The change in the hydrodynamic diameter of GNPs could be detected by DLS technology. Under the optimal conditions, the average diameter increased linearly with the concentration of melamine over the range from 5.0 to 320.0 μg L −1 , and showed a detection limit of 2.0 μg  L −1 (3σ/slope). The MMMQ was investigated within a range from 6.00 × 10 −4 to 2.58 × 10 −1  mg dm −2 ( n  ≥ 3) in four different food simulants at different temperatures and time points. The results suggest that the DLS method has great potential in the analysis of the migration of melamine monomers.