Vanadium carbide MXene: as a reductant for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles and its biosensing application

Vanadium carbide MXene (V 2 C) acts as a new type of two-dimensional (2D) graphene-like transition metal material that has attracted research interest. V 2 C has been widely used in various fields due to its excellent physical and chemical properties. Herein, the self-assembled V 2 C@gold nanoparticles (V 2 C@AuNPs) are prepared by water bath process at 80 °C. With the addition of glutathione (GSH), the absorbance (Abs.) at 550 nm of V 2 C@AuNPs was decreased. Therefore, an optical sensor is developed to detect GSH based on the properties of V 2 C@AuNPs. Under the optimal conditions, the detection range is 1–32 µM and the detection limit is 0.099 µM. Furthermore, the proposed GSH sensor exhibits high sensitivity, high selectivity, strong stability, and excellent recovery. The work will expand the application of V 2 C in biosensing.