Synthesis and characterization of GaN/PEDOT–PPY nanocomposites and its photocatalytic activity and electrochemical detection of mebendazole

Ag Nanowire-Plasmonic-Assisted Charge Separation in Hybrid Heterojunctions of Ppy-PEDOT:PSS/GaN Nanorods for Enhanced UV Photodetection

The surface states, poor carrier life, and other native defects in GaN nanorods (NRs) limit their utilization in high-speed and large-gain ultraviolet (UV) photodetection applications. Making a hybrid structure is one of the finest strategies to overcome such impediments. In this work, a polypyrrole (Ppy)-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)/GaN NRs hybrid structure is introduced for self-powered UV photodetection applications. This hybrid structure yields high photodetection performance, while pristine GaN NRs showed negligible photodetection properties. The ability of the photodetector is further boosted by functionalizing the hybrid structure with Ag nanowires (NWs). The Ag NWs-functionalized hybrid structure exhibited a responsivity of 3.1 × 10³ (A/W), detectivity of 3.19 × 10¹⁴ Jones, and external quantum efficiency of 1.0⁶ × 10⁶ (%) under a UV illumination of λ = 382 nm. This high photoresponse is due to the huge photon absorption rising from the localized surface plasmonic effect of a Ag NWs network. Also, the Ag NWs significantly improved the rising and falling times, which were noted to be 0.20 and 0.21 s, respectively. The model band diagram was proposed with the assistance of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to explore the origin of the superior performance of the Ag NWs-decorated Ppy-PEDOT:PSS/GaN NRs photodetector. The proposed hybrid structure seems to be a promising candidate for the development of high-performance UV photodetectors.

Voltammetric Techniques for the Analysis of Drugs using Nanomaterials based Chemically Modified Electrodes

Background:

Electroanalytical techniques play a very important role in the areas of medicinal, clinical as well as pharmaceutical research. Amongst these techniques, the voltammetric methods for the determination of drugs using nanomaterials based chemically modified electrodes (CMEs) have received enormous attention in recent years. This is due to the sensitivity and selectivity they provide on qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of the electroactive analyte under study. The aim of the present review was to discuss the work on nanomaterials based CMEs for the analysis of drugs covering the period from 2000 to present employing various voltammetric techniques for different classes of the drugs.

Methods:

The present review deals with the determination of different classes of drugs including analgesics, anthelmentic, anti-TB, cardiovascular, antipsychotics and anti-allergic, antibiotic and gastrointestinal drugs. Also, a special section is devoted for enantioanalysis of certain chiral drugs using voltammetry. The detailed information of the voltammetric determination for the drugs from each class employing various techniques such as differential pulse voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, stripping voltammetry, etc. are presented in tabular form below the description of each class in the review.

Results:

Various nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon nanofibers, quantum dots, metal/metal oxide nanoparticles, polymer based nanocomposites have been used by researchers for the development of CMEs over a period of time. The large surface area to volume ratio, high conductivity, electrocatalytic activity and biocompatibility make them ideal modifiers where they produce synergistic effect which helps in trace level determination of pharmaceutical, biomedical and medicinal compounds. In addition, macrocyclic compounds as chiral selectors have been used for the determination of enantiomeric drugs where one of the isomers captured in the cavities of chiral selector shows stronger binding interaction for one of the enantiomorphs.

Conclusion:

arious kinds of functional nanocomposites have led to the manipulation of peak potential due to drug - nanoparticles interaction at the modified electrode surface. This has facilitated the simultaneous determination of drugs with almost similar peak potentials. Also, it leads to the enhancement in voltammetric response of the analytes. It is expected that such modified electrodes can be easily miniaturized and used as portable, wearable and user friendly devices. This will pave a way for in-vivo onsite real monitoring of single as well as multi component pharmaceutical compounds.