Novel Nanocomposite of Chitosan-protected Platinum Nanoparticles Immobilized on Nickel Hydroxide: Facile Synthesis and Application as Glucose Electrochemical Sensor

Non-enzymatic glucose sensing using a nickel hydroxide/chitosan modified screen-printed electrode incorporated into a flow injection analysis system

This works presents a novel screen-printed carbon electrode modified with nickel hydroxide nanoparticles and chitosan (Ni(OH)2/CS/SPCE) for the non-enzymatic flow injection amperometric detection of glucose. The electrode was modified by drop-casting a suspension of the synthesised nanocomposite onto the screen-printed electrode and dried for 1 hour at room temperature. EDX analysis was used to investigate the chemical composition of the electrode before and after modifying. The electrochemical response of the unmodified SPCE and modified electrode was initially investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) using 0.1 M NaOH as the supporting electrolyte. CVs showed catalytic activity for glucose oxidation using the Ni(OH)2/CS/SPCE at 0.55 V. During flow injection analysis (FIA), 0.60 V and 1.5 mL min-1 were identified as the optimal potential and flow rate, respectively. A wide linear range of detection was observed (0.2 to 10.0 mM) with a sensitivity and limit of detection of 913 μA mM-1 cm-2 and 0.0174 mM, respectively. The modified electrode also displayed excellent repeatability (RSD = 0.47%, n = 20) and good reproducibility (RSD = 2.52%, n = 6). The modified electrode was shown to be very selectivity for glucose over other interferences commonly found in human blood samples. The practicality of the developed flow injection-amperometric system (FIA-Amp) was validated by the quantification of glucose in real serum samples, where results were in close agreement with those obtained from the local hospital.

The non-enzymatic electrochemical detection of glucose and ammonia using ternary biopolymer based-nanocomposites

Novel biopolymer-based nanocomposites exhibit significant electrocatalytic activity towards glucose and aqueous ammonia detection with high sensitivity and low detection limits.

Platinum nanoparticles in nanobiomedicine

Oxidative stress-dependent inflammatory diseases represent a major concern for the population's health worldwide. Biocompatible nanomaterials with enzymatic properties could play a crucial role in the treatment of such pathologies. In this respect, platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) are promising candidates, showing remarkable catalytic activity, able to reduce the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and impair the downstream pathways leading to inflammation. This review reports a critical overview of the growing evidence revealing the anti-inflammatory ability of PtNPs and their potential applications in nanomedicine. It provides a detailed description of the wide variety of synthetic methods recently developed, with particular attention to the aspects influencing biocompatibility. Special attention has been paid to the studies describing the toxicological profile of PtNPs with an attempt to draw critical conclusions. The emerging picture suggests that the material per se is not causing cytotoxicity, while other physicochemical features related to the synthesis and surface functionalization may play a crucial role in determining the observed impairment of cellular functions. The enzymatic activity of PtNPs is also summarized, analyzing their action against ROS produced by pathological conditions within the cells. In particular, we extensively discuss the potential of these properties in nanomedicine to down-regulate inflammatory pathways or to be employed as diagnostic tools with colorimetric readout. A brief overview of other biomedical applications of nanoplatinum is also presented.