Size-dependent modulation of CoOOH nanoflakes light scattering for rapid and selective detection of tetracycline in milk

As an antibiotic, tetracycline has been widely used against bacterial infection or as feed additives for growth promotion, which may lead to the enrichment of antibiotic residues in animals or their products. Therefore, the detection of tetracycline is closely related to human health. The morphological transformation of CoOOH nanoflakes induced by tetracycline was monitored by scanning electron microscope images, dark-field light scattering images and optical spectra, which found that tetracycline could decompose CoOOH nanoflakes into small nanoparticles with low light scattering signal. As a result, the reduced light scattering of CoOOH nanoflakes was proportional to the increased concentration of tetracycline in the range of 1.0–250 μmol/L, and the limit of determination (LOD) was 0.23 μmol/L (3σ/k). Most foreign substances did not interfere in the analysis of tetracycline. Furthermore, the concentration of tetracycline in different milk samples detected with the standard addition method was so low that it accorded with the safety regulation, which was similar to the detection result with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).