Hierarchical bi-continuous Pt decorated nanoporous Au-Sn alloy on carbon fiber paper for ascorbic acid, dopamine and uric acid simultaneous sensing

One-step rapid synthesis of Ni6(C12H25S)12 nanoclusters for electrochemical sensing of ascorbic acid

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) are highly desirable as active catalysts due to their highly active surface atoms. Among the reported metal clusters, nickel nanoclusters (Ni NCs) have been less well developed than others, such as gold, silver and copper. Herein a simple method is developed to synthesize atomically precise Ni clusters with the molecular formular of Ni₆(C₁₂H₂₅S)₁₂. Moreover, the single crystal of the Ni₆(C₁₂H₂₅S)₁₂ cluster is also obtained. The composition, morphology and optical properties of the prepared Ni₆ clusters are characterized by X-ray crystallography, XPS, XRD, SEM, HRTEM, FTIR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The Ni cluster is composed of six nickel atoms that form a hexagonal ring with an exterior 1-dodecanethiol shell, resembling a double crown. Meanwhile, the Ni₆ NCs can be self-assembled into nanosheets due to their uniform size. It was found that the Ni₆(C₁₂H₂₅S)₁₂ clusters loaded on carbon black exhibit higher electrocatalytic activity than Ni nanoparticles towards ascorbic acid (AA) oxidation. The Ni₆ clusters show high sensing performance for AA with a wide linear range (1-3212 μM) and a low detection limit of 0.1 μM (S/N = 3). The significantly enhanced catalytic activity can be ascribed to the high fraction of surface Ni atoms with low coordination in the sub-nanometer clusters. The present work not only provides a straightforward method for synthesizing atomically precise metal clusters but also indicates that ultrasmall Ni clusters can be used as highly efficient catalysts for the electrochemical detection of AA.

Significant enhancement in the electrochemical determination of 4-aminophenol from nanoporous gold by decorating with a Pd@CeO2 composite film

An electrode based on Pd@CeO₂ nanocomposite-decorated nanoporous gold on a carbon fiber paper was achieved, which demonstrated excellent performance in 4-aminophenol determination.

Construction and application of a nonenzymatic ascorbic acid sensor based on a NiO1.0/polyaniline3.0 hybrid

The schematic diagram for the fabrication process of NiO/PANI.

Fully transient electrochemical testing strips for eco-friendly point of care testing

Transient electrochemical strips with in-time degradability offer possibility for eco-friendly POCT detection.

Surface Engineering of Carbon Fiber Paper toward Exceptionally High-Performance and Stable Electrochemical Nitrite Sensing

In this work, we introduce our recent finding that the carbon fiber paper (CFP) treated by simple air annealing (OCFP) could be used for exceptionally high-performance electrochemical nitrite sensing. The air-annealing process endows the pristine CFP with higher defective edge/plane sites, more oxygen-containing functional groups, higher roughness, and improved wettability. The electrochemical studies show that the OCFP exhibits excellent sensing performance for nitrite, with an ultralow determination limit of 0.1 μM and a detection limit of 0.07 μM, an ultrawide linear determination range of 0.1-3838.5 μM, a fast current response of 1 s, and a high sensitivity of 930.4 μA mM^-1 cm^-2. These performance values are comparable or even superior to those for most reported noble- or transition-metal-based advanced nitrite sensors. Besides, this electrode also presents satisfactory stability, reproducibility, and feasibility of nitrite sensing in food samples. As an ideal monolithic and metal-free catalyst with ultrahigh and stable detection performance, the OCFP has a high potential to be integrated into next-generation electrochemical sensing devices.

Atomic matching catalysis to realize a highly selective and sensitive biomimetic uric acid sensor

A main challenge for biomimetic non-enzyme biosensors is to achieve high selectivity. Herein, an innovative biomimetic non-enzyme sensor for electrochemical detection of uric acid (UA) with high selectivity and sensitivity is realized by growing Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticles on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-doped CNTs). The enhancement mechanism of the biomimetic UA sensor is proposed to be atomically matched active sites between two reaction sites (oxygen atoms of 2, 8-trione, 6.9 Å) of UA molecule and two redox centers (Fe^II on the diagonal, 7.2 Å) of PB. Such an atomically matching manner not only promotes strong adsorption of UA on PB but also selectively enhances electron transfer between reaction sites of UA and active Fe^II centers of PB. This biomimetic UA sensor can offer great selectivity to avoid interferences from other oxidative and reductive species, showing excellent selectivity. An electrochemical biomimetic sensor based on PB/N-doped CNTs was applied to in situ detect UA in human serum, delivering a wide dynamic detection range (0.001-1 mM) and a low detection limit (0.26 μM). This work provides a high-performance UA sensor while shedding a scientific light on using atomic matching catalysis to fabricate highly sensitive and selective biomimetic sensors.

A novel electrochemical sensor based on self-assembled platinum nanochains - Multi-walled carbon nanotubes-graphene nanoparticles composite for simultaneous determination of dopamine and ascorbic acid

In this study, platinum nanochains (PtNCs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoparticles (GNPs) were assembled together to form a novel nanocomposite by a facile ultrasonic-assisted blending process. The PtNCs-MWCNTs-GNPs nanocomposite was characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The nanocomposite was used for the modification of glass carbon electrode (GCE) and simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and cycle voltammetry (CV). Under the optimum conditions, the calibration curves obtained are linear for the currents versus DA and AA concentrations over the range 2.00-50.0 μM and 100-1200 μM, respectively. And the detection limits for DA and AA are 0.500 μM and 10.0 μM, respectively. The detection and quantitative analysis of DA and AA in human serum and vitamin C tablets on PtNCs-MWCNTs-GNPs/GCE gave the recoveries of 104-110% and 101-108% with relative standard deviations (RSD) of 4.36-7.48% and 0.620-2.90%, respectively. The proposed PtNCs-MWCNTs-GNPs composite could provide a new platform for the routine analysis of DA and AA in terms of its good anti-interference ability, excellent reproducibility and repeatability, and feasibility of use.

A portable micro glucose sensor based on copper-based nanocomposite structure

A sensor device based on a copper-based nanocomposite structure is achieved and presents excellent sensing performance for glucose.

Reactivity of a gold(i)/platinum(0) frustrated Lewis pair with germanium and tin dihalides

The rich reactivity of tetrylene dihalides towards a metallic FLP: phosphine exchange reactions and formation of homo and heterobimetallic compounds.