By monitoring opioid metabolites,
wastewater-based epidemiology
(WBE) could be an excellent tool for real-time information on the
consumption of illicit drugs. A key limitation of WBE is the reliance
on costly laboratory-based techniques that require substantial infrastructure
and trained personnel, resulting in long turnaround times. Here, we
present an aptamer-based graphene field effect transistor (AptG-FET)
platform for simultaneous detection of three different opioid metabolites.
This platform provides a reliable, rapid, and inexpensive method for
quantitative analysis of opioid metabolites in wastewater. The platform
delivers a limit of detection 2–3 orders of magnitude lower
than previous reports, but in line with the concentration range (pg/mL
to ng/mL) of these opioid metabolites present in real samples. To
enable multianalyte detection, we developed a facile, reproducible,
and high-yield fabrication process producing 20 G-FETs with integrated
side gate platinum (Pt) electrodes on a single chip. Our devices achieved
the selective multianalyte detection of three different metabolites:
noroxycodone (NX), 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine
(EDDP), and norfentanyl (NF) in wastewater diluted 20× in buffer.