Covalent organic framework anchored β-cyclodextrin-modified silicon nanochannel sensor for chiral recognition of amino acid enantiomers

Chiral recognition and trace detection of amino acid enantiomers are critical in biochemistry, pharmaceutical analysis, and food safety. However, traditional detection methods are often limited by low selectivity, unsatisfactory stability, and narrow linear ranges. To address these limitations, this study successfully fabricated a chiral nanochannel sensor (COF Tp-DBd-BD /CD/Si) by integrating covalently anchored β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and a hierarchically porous covalent organic framework onto silicon nanochannel substrates. The resulting sensor combines the large specific surface area of the hierarchically porous structure, the specific recognition capability of covalently anchored β-CD chiral sites, and signal amplification induced by the nanoconfinement effect, thereby producing a synergistic sensing response. Experimental results demonstrated that the developed sensor exhibited excellent stability, favorable specificity and high sensitivity, with a low limit of detection of 0.78 pM and a broad linear range spanning from 10 −11 to 10 −4 M.