A facile and stable single-system fluorescent sensor array for the quantification and discrimination of nitrofuran antibiotics.

The misuse of nitrofuran antibiotics (NFAs) poses serious risks to food safety and human health. Thus, it is urgent to establish a rapid and sensitive method for detecting NFAs. In this work, a dual-emission fluorescent material (TbUDPA) was developed by embedding Tb3+ in a Zr-MOF for rapid and sensitive detection of four NFAs, and it successfully detected nitrofurazone (NFZ) residues in real food samples with high recovery rates. A single-system sensor array based on TbUDPA with three channels differentiated the four NFAs via principal component and hierarchical clustering analysis, also identified binary/ternary mixtures. Additionally, a paper sensor was fabricated using TbUDPA for rapid and visual quantification of NFZ. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fluorescent sensor that simultaneously detects and discriminates four major NFAs within a single system. This study introduces a new approach for multi-antibiotic residue detection, advancing food safety and public health monitoring.