Design of a field flow system for the on-line spectrophotometric determination of phosphate, nitrite and nitrate in natural water and wastewater

Electrochemically Exfoliated Graphene Quantum Dots Based Biosensor for CD44 Breast Cancer Biomarker

An innovative electrochemical biosensor based on graphene quantum dots (GQDs) is developed for a simple, rapid, and highly sensitive primary diagnosis of the breast cancer biomarker cluster of differentiation-44 (CD44) antigen. Herein, electrochemical exfoliation of waste dry batteries provides facile, eco-friendly, and cost-effective synthesis of GQDs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis reveals that GQDs exhibit spherical shapes with an average diameter of 4.75 nm. Further, electrochemical analysis through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) reveals that the electrochemical properties of GQDs are suitable for biosensing applications. Subsequently, GQDs have a large electroactive surface area that has been utilized for the immobilization of CD44 antibodies to fabricate the electrochemical biosensor. The electroanalytical performance of GQDs for CD44 biosensing capabilities is studied by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The developed electrochemical biosensor has high sensitivity with the lowest detection limit (LOD) of 2.11 fg/mL in the linear range of 0.1 pg/mL to 100.0 ng/mL in phosphate buffer saline (PBS). Further, the linear response of the electrochemical biosensor for CD44 antigen concentration is in the range of 1.0 pg/mL to 100.0 ng/mL with a LOD of 2.71 fg/mL in spiked serum samples. The outcomes suggest that the synthesized GQDs demonstrate promising attributes to be utilized as a viable nanomaterial in biosensing applications.

New application for TiO2 P25 photocatalyst: A case study of photoelectrochemical sensing of nitrite ions

Developing photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensors based on photocatalytic materials has recently attracted great interest as an emerging technology for environmental monitoring. TiO₂ P25 is a well-known highly active photocatalyst, cheap, and produced commercially on a large scale. In the current work, a practical and durable TiO₂-based PEC sensor has been fabricated by immobilizing TiO₂ P25 nanoparticles at disposable screen-printed carbon substrates using drop-casting method. The fabricated PEC sensor has been applied for the anodic-detection and determination of nitrite (NO₂^-) ions under UV(A) light (LED, 365 nm) using chronoamperometry (CA) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Linear calibration curves were obtained between the photocurrent responses and the concentrations of NO₂^- ions in the ranges of 0.1-5.0 and 0.5-10 mg L^-1 for CA and DPV, respectively. Surprisingly, the detection limits (sensitivities) of the fabricated sensor towards NO₂^- ions under light were enhanced by a factor of 4.75 (4.1) and 8.3 (37.4) for CA and DPV, respectively, in comparsion with those measured in the dark. It is found that the photo-excitation of TiO₂ facilitates the photooxidation of NO₂^- ions via the photo-generated holes whereas the photogenerated electrons contribute to the enhanced photocurrent and consequently the enhanced detection limit and sensitivity. The fabricated TiO₂-based PEC sensor exhibits a good stability, durability, and satisfying selectivity for NO₂^- ions determination. These results indicate that the TiO₂-based PEC sensor fabricated by utilizing cheap and commercially available components has great potential for being transferred from lab-to-factory.

Heterostructural CuO-ZnO Nanocomposites: A Highly Selective Chemical and Electrochemical NO2 Sensor

A simple one-step chemical method is employed for the successful synthesis of CuO(50%)-ZnO(50%) nanocomposites (NCs) and investigation of their gas sensing properties. The X-ray diffraction studies revealed that these CuO-ZnO NCs display a hexagonal wurtzite-type crystal structure. The average width of 50-100 nm and length of 200-600 nm of the NCs were confirmed by transmission electron microscopic images, and the 1:1 proportion of Cu and Zn composition was confirmed by energy-dispersive spectra, i.e., CuO(50%)-ZnO(50%) NC studies. The CuO(50%)-ZnO(50%) NCs exhibit superior gas sensing performance with outstanding selectivity toward NO2 gas at a working temperature of 200 °C. Moreover, these NCs were used for the indirect evaluation of NO2 via electrochemical detection of NO2 - (as NO2 converts into NO2 - once it reacts with moisture, resulting into acid rain, i.e., indirect evaluation of NO2). As compared with other known modified electrodes, CuO(50%)-ZnO(50%) NCs show an apparent oxidation of NO2 - with a larger peak current for a wider linear range of nitrite concentration from 20 to 100 mM. We thus demonstrate that the as-synthesized CuO(50%)-ZnO(50%) NCs act as a promising low-cost NO2 sensor and further confirm their potential toward tunable gas sensors (electrochemical and solid state) (Scheme 1).

A new electrochemical sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of nitrite in food samples based on sonochemical synthesized Calcium Ferrite (CaFe2O4) clusters modified screen printed carbon electrode

Herein, we report a novel, disposable electrochemical sensor for the detection of nitrite ions in food samples based on the sonochemical synthesized orthorhombic CaFe₂O₄ (CFO) clusters modified screen printed electrode. As synthesized CFO clusters were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformer infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometry (i-t). Under optimal condition, the CFO modified electrode displayed a rapid current response to nitrite, a linear response range from 0.016 to 1921 µM associated with a low detection limit 6.6 nM. The suggested sensor also showed the excellent sensitivity of 3.712 μA μM^-1 cm^-2. Furthermore, a good reproducibility, long-term stability and excellent selectivity were also attained on the proposed sensor. In addition, the practical applicability of the sensor was investigated via meat samples, tap water and drinking water, and showed desirable recovery rate, representing its possibilities for practical application.

A new fluorescent PET sensor probe for Co2+ ion detection: computational, logic device and living cell imaging applications

A new probe, 2 exhibit quenching with Co²⁺ (∼80% at 634 nm) while 2·Co²⁺ ensemble exhibit enhancement with NO₃⁻ (∼82% at 632.5 nm). On–Off–On behavior of 2 (Co²⁺ and NO₃⁻ ions) the function of a sequential XNOR gate and can be utilized in live cell imaging.

Electrochemical synthesis of gold nanoparticles decorated flower-like graphene for high sensitivity detection of nitrite

In this paper, the spherical Au nanoparticles and 3D flower-like structure graphene were successively deposited on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) (Au/f-GE/GCE) via a facile and two-step electrodeposition method for the detection of nitrite ions (NaNO₂). The morphology and composition elements were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were used to evaluate the electrochemical behaviors of NaNO₂ on the as-prepared electrode. Compared to f-GE/GCE and Au/GCE, Au/f-GE/GCE showed a sharp and obvious oxidation peak at 0.78V. The oxidation peak current of NaNO₂ was linearly proportional to its concentration in the range from 0.125 to 20375.98μM, with a detection limit of 0.01μM (at S/N=3). Furthermore, the experiment results also showed that the as-prepared electrode exhibited excellent reproducibility and long-term stability, as well as good recovery when applied to the determination of NaNO₂ in pickled pork samples.

Electrochemical detection of nitrite based on glassy carbon electrode modified with gold–polyaniline–graphene nanocomposites

This study reports possible interferences for the detection of NO₂⁻ on a Au–G–PANI/GCE.

Simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate ions by air-segmented amplitude-modulated multiplexed flow analysis

The concept of amplitude-modulated multiplexed flow analysis has been extended to the simultaneous determination of multiple analytes in a sample. A sample solution containing nitrite and nitrate ions is delivered from two channels, but the flow rates are varied at different frequencies. One of the channels has a reduction column for converting nitrate ions to nitrite ions. Downstream, the absorbance of the diazo-coupling product is monitored after the merging of both solutions with a Griess reagent. The signal is analyzed by a fast Fourier transform (FFT) in real time. From the thus-obtained amplitude, a µmol dm(-3) level of the ions can be determined. The introduction of air bubbles is effective to reduce any axial dispersion, and hence to improve the sensitivity.