One-step electrodeposition of graphene loaded nickel oxides nanoparticles for acetaminophen detection

A systematic review on electrochemical sensors for the detection of acetaminophen

Considerable progress has been made in the electrochemical determination of acetaminophen (AP) over the past few decades. Nanomaterials or enzymes as electrode modifiers greatly improve the performance of AP electrochemical sensors. This review focuses on the development potential, detection principles and techniques for the electrochemical analysis of AP. In particular, the design and construction of AP electrochemical sensors are discussed from the perspective of non-enzyme materials (such as nanomaterials, including precious metals, transition metals and non-metals) and enzyme substances (such as aryl acylamidase, polyphenol oxidase and horseradish peroxidase). Moreover, the influencing factors for AP electrochemical sensors and the simultaneous detection of AP and other targets are summarized, and the future prospective of AP electrochemical sensors is outlined. This review provides a reference and guidance for the development and application of electrochemical sensors for AP detection.

Optimized Electrodeposition of Ni2O3 on Carbon Paper for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Ethanol

The urgent need for sustainable and efficient energy conversion technologies has propelled research into novel electrocatalysts for fuel cell applications. This study investigates a carbon paper (CP)-supported Ni2O3 catalyst for the electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol. We utilized electrodeposition to uniformly deposit/dop Ni2O3 onto the CP, creating an effective electrocatalyst. Our approach allows the tailoring of the doping degree by adjusting the electrodeposition potential. The optimal doping degree, achieved at a medium deposition potential, results in an electrode with high intrinsic activity and a substantial electrochemically active surface area (ECSA), thereby enhancing its electrocatalytic activity. This catalyst efficiently facilitates the oxidation of ethanol to formic acid while maintaining good stability. The enhanced performance is attributed to the effective interface and interaction between Ni2O3 and CP. This work not only provides insights into the design of efficient Ni-based catalysts for ethanol oxidation but also paves the way for developing advanced materials for renewable energy conversion.

Design of a facile, green and efficient graphene oxide-based electrochemical sensor for analysis of acetaminophen drug

In this study an efficient and environment friendly electrochemical sensor has been designed for the analysis of acetaminophen (APAP) drug. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, differential pulse voltammetry and cyclic voltammetric techniques were used to demonstrate the fabricated erGO/GCE sensor performance. Voltammetric assessment of acetaminophen drug was done using bare GC electrode, drop-casted GO/GC electrode and erGO/GCE electrochemical sensor. Proposed sensor was precisely validated for APAP detection by differential pulse voltammetric technique. Subsequently LOD, LOQ, sensitivity and linearity were determined and found to be 7.23 nM, 21.909 nM, 20.14 μA nM^-1 cm^-2 and 0.0219-2.30 μM, respectively. The diffusion coefficient of APAP was determined by chronoamperometry, and it was found to be 2.24 × 10^-5 cm².s^-1. The synthetic and analytical steps were assessed as per the Green Chemistry's 12 Principles giving a 66 score (acceptable) and 93 score (excellent) for the said steps, respectively.

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Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11696-022-02628-9.

A novel temperature-responsive electrochemical sensing platform for reversible switch-sensitive detection of acetamidophenol

A novel facile, quick, and temperature-controlled sensor was constructed based on a polystyrene-poly-N,N-diethyl acrylamide-polystyrene (PS-PDEAM)/carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite modified glass carbon electrode. The sensor achieves acetaminophen (AP) reversibility through better temperature sensitivity. PS-PDEAM shrinks when the temperature exceeds its lower critical temperature (LCST). When AP molecules pass through the modified interface, the electron transfer rate is accelerated, and the sensor is turned on. In the off state, the electrochemical response of AP cannot be detected. Under ideal experimental conditions, for composite modified films, there is a wide detection range of AP between 1.5-85.1 μM and 85.1-235.1 μM, and the limit of detection of acetaminophen is as low as 0.57 μM (S/N = 3). This method has been successfully applied to the determination of AP in tablets, and shows high stability, good reproducibility and excellent anti-interference ability. The on-off sensor opens up a wide range of possibilities for the use of temperature-sensitive polymers in electro-catalysis, sensors, and environmental pollutant monitoring.

A bibliometric analysis of graphene in acetaminophen detection: Current status, development, and future directions

Acetaminophen is a widely used analgesic throughout the world. Detection of acetaminophen has particular value in pharmacy and clinics. Electrochemical sensors assembled with advanced materials are an effective method for the rapid detection of acetaminophen. Graphene-based carbon nanomaterials have been extensively investigated for potential analytical applications in the last decade. In this article, we selected papers containing both graphene and acetaminophen. Bibliometrics was used to analyze the relationships and trends among these papers. The results show that the topic has grown at a high rate since 2009. Among them, the detection of acetaminophen by an electrochemical sensor based on graphene is the most important direction. Graphene has moved from being a primary sensing material to a substrate for immobilization of other active ingredients. In addition, the degradation of acetaminophen using graphene-modified electrodes is also an important direction. We analyzed the research history and current status of this topic through bibliometrics. Authors, institutions, countries, and key literature were discussed. We also proposed perspectives for this topic.

Strategies, advances, and challenges associated with the use of graphene-based nanocomposites for electrochemical biosensors

Graphene is an intriguing two-dimensional honeycomb-like carbon material with a unique basal plane structure, charge carrier mobility, thermal conductivity, wide electrochemical spectrum, and unusual physicochemical properties. Therefore, it has attracted considerable scientific interest in the field of nanoscience and bionanotechnology. The high specific surface area of graphene allows it to support high biomolecule loading for good detection sensitivity. As such, graphene, graphene oxide (GO), and reduced GO are excellent materials for the fabrication of new nanocomposites and electrochemical sensors. Graphene has been widely used as a chemical building block and/or scaffold with various materials to create highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensing microdevices. Over the past decade, significant advancements have been made by utilizing graphene and graphene-based nanocomposites to design electrochemical sensors with enhanced analytical performance. This review focus on the synthetic strategies, as well as the structure-to-function studies of graphene, electrochemistry, novel multi nanocomposites combining graphene, limit of detection, stability, sensitivity, assay time. Finally, the review describes the challenges, strategies and outlook on the future development of graphene sensors technology that would be usable for the internet of things are also highlighted.

Carbon nanomaterials and its applications in pharmaceuticals: A brief review

Nanotechnology for the past decade has made tremendous improvement and diverse applications in various sector. Among the nanomaterials synthesized, carbon allotropes are advantageous due to its easy functionalization, conductivity, surface area and electrical activity. Hence, they are termed as "Wonder materials". Allotropes such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, graphene oxide, fullerens, and carbon dots has paved its importance in the pharmaceuticals. They are coated in the biomedical devices, applied in the therapeutics and diagnosis. These are also used in the treatment of cancer and they possess anti-microbial and antiviral activity. Carbon nanomaterials possess several applications from biosensors to remediation of pollutants. Detection of hazardous compounds in food, pharmaceutical products, gene and drug delivery. They are also used in tissue regeneration and gene therapy. Application of carbon allotropes in the current scenario provides a wide scope in future with improvisations in building electrochemical biosensors. Its selectivity, sensitivity and cost-effectiveness prove it to be better alternative compared to other nanomaterials. The review focuses on the carbon allotropes used in pharmaceuticals, biosensors, pollutants detection and treatment were discussed in detail.

Simultaneous detection of acetaminophen, catechol and hydroquinone using a graphene-assisted electrochemical sensor

Simple, rapid and sensitive analysis of drug-derived pollutants is critically valuable for environmental monitoring. Here, taking acetaminophen, hydroquinone and catechol as a study example, a sensor based on an ITO/APTES/r-GO@Au electrode was developed for separate and simultaneous determination of phenolic pollutants. ITO electrodes that are modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), graphene (GO) and Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) can significantly enhance the electronic transport of phenolic pollutants at the electrode surface. The redox mechanisms of phenolic pollutants include the electron transfer with the enhancement of r-GO@Au. The modified ITO electrode exhibits excellent electrical properties to phenolic pollutants and a good linear relationship between ECL intensity and the concentration of phenolic pollutants, with a limit of detection of 0.82, 1.41 and 1.95 μM, respectively. The separate and simultaneous determination of AP, CC and HQ is feasible with the ITO/APTES/r-GO@Au electrode. The sensor shows great promise as a low-lost, sensitive, and rapid method for simultaneous determination of drug-derived pollutants.

Simple, rapid and sensitive analysis of drug-derived pollutants is critically valuable for environmental monitoring.

Ni/NiO/Ni-B/graphene heterostructure-modified electrodes and their electrochemical activities towards acetaminophen

The surface of graphene was decorated with nickel/nickel oxide/nickel-boron particles to develop high-performance electrochemical sensors. The nanohybrid structures were prepared via a one-step reduction method under an oxygen-rich atmosphere to obtain an oxide phase besides metallic nickel nanoparticles. In addition, the use of NaBH₄ as the reducing agent enabled simultaneous formation of Ni-B species on the graphene surface. XRD, XPS, TEM, Raman, and TGA analyses were implemented to characterize the samples. The XRD and XPS results revealed the presence of Ni/NiO/Ni-B on the surface of graphene. The electroanalytical performance of the nanocomposite was investigated against acetaminophen, which is an extensively exploited antipyretic and analgesic drug. The analytical performance results showed that the Ni/NiO/Ni-B/Gr-based sensors had a very wide working window between 10 μM and 2500 μM (y (μA) = 10.706x (mM) + 0.3151 (R² = 0.9993)). The excellent storage stability, selectivity, and recovery results along with the high analytical performance make the novel Ni/NiO/Ni-B/Gr hybrid systems promising materials for the development of novel sensor platforms.

Metal-organic framework precursors derived Ni-doping porous carbon spheres for sensitive electrochemical detection of acetaminophen

The sensitive and selective determination of acetaminophen (AP) in the human body is highly desirable to ensure human health. In this work, nickel-doping nanoporous carbon (Ni/C) was fabricated by directly calcining Ni based metal-organic framework (Ni-MOF). The Ni/C based electrochemical sensor was developed for sensitive and selective determination of AP in human blood serum and urine samples. The prepared Ni/C composite possess plentiful catalytic active sites, ordered mesoporous structure and large specific surface area, which endow the constructed Ni/C sensor with a prominent performance for acetaminophen sensing. Under the optimal conditions, the developed method offered good linearity in the range of 0.20-53.75 μM with a low detection limit (S/N = 3) of 4.04 × 10^-2 μM. The electrocatalytic performance of the sensor towards AP was further measured by differential pulse voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry. The results demonstrated that the Ni/C sensor can be feasibly employed for the determination of AP in human blood serum and urine samples with excellent anti-interference stability and good reproducibility. The research reveals a great promising of the Ni/C electrochemical sensor for clinical applications and paves a way for the construction of high-performance electrochemical sensors for AP determination.

Studying the preparation, electrochemical performance testing, comparison and application of a cost-effective flexible graphene working electrode

-A cost-effective flexible graphene working electrode (FGWE) was fabricated using overhead projector transparent film (OPTF) and a screen-printing technique. The surface morphology and electrochemical behavior of the electrode were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The electrode presented a very thin layer of conductive ink (16.0 ± 0.7 µm) on a large effective surface area (0.301 ± 0.001 cm^-2). The anodic peak current density (j_pa) of acetaminophen (ACT) in FGWE was 5.2, 3.7, 3.5 and 6.0 times greater than the j_pa of glassy carbon electrode (GCE), flexible carbon working electrode (FCWE), SPE1, and SPE2, respectively. The electrochemical performance of FGWE toward ACT was evaluated by differential pulse voltammetry. Under optimized condition, ACT was quantified in a range of  4-100 µM, with good sensitivity, good accuracy (recovery = 82.3 ± 0.4 to 106 ± 3%), and excellent precision. FGWE was applied to determine ACT in commercial pharmaceutical formulations. The results of the study are in good agreement with those obtained by the standard spectrophotometric method. These results indicate that disposable FGWE is particularly useful for the detection of ACT, and its performance may serve as a platform for cost-effective flexible electrochemical sensors.

Chemically modified carbon-based electrodes for the determination of paracetamol in drugs and biological samples

Paracetamol is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug widely used in pharmaceutical applications for its sturdy, antipyretic and analgesic action. However, an overdose of paracetamol can cause fulminant hepatic necrosis and other toxic effects. Thus, the development of advantageous analytical tools to detect and determine paracetamol is required. Due to simplicity, higher sensitivity and selectivity as well as costefficiency, electrochemical sensors were fully investigated in last decades. This review describes the advancements made in the development of electrochemical sensors for the paracetamol detection and quantification in pharmaceutical and biological samples. The progress made in electrochemical sensors for the selective detection of paracetamol in the last 10 years was examined, with a special focus on highly innovative features introduced by nanotechnology. As the literature is rather extensive, we tried to simplify this work by summarizing and grouping electrochemical sensors according to the by which manner their substrates were chemically modified and the analytical performances obtained.

Disposable Nafion-Coated Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Test Strip for Electrochemical Quantitative Determination of Acetaminophen in a Finger-Prick Whole Blood Sample

A disposable electrochemical test strip for the quantitative point-of-care (POC) determination of acetaminophen (paracetamol) in plasma and finger-prick whole blood was fabricated. The industrially scalable dry transfer process of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and screen printing of silver were combined to produce integrated electrochemical test strips. Nafion coating stabilized the potential of the Ag reference electrode and enabled the selective detection in spiked plasma as well as in whole blood samples. The test strips were able to detect acetaminophen in small 40 μL samples with a detection limit of 0.8 μM and a wide linear range from 1 μM to 2 mM, well within the required clinical range. After a simple 1:1 dilution of plasma and whole blood, a quantitative detection with good recoveries of 79% in plasma and 74% in whole blood was achieved. These results strongly indicate that these electrodes can be used directly to determine the unbound acetaminophen fraction without the need for any additional steps. The developed test strip shows promise as a rapid and simple POC quantitative acetaminophen assay.

A sensitive non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor based on acicular manganese dioxide modified graphene nanosheets composite for hydrogen peroxide detection

In this work, a novel manganese dioxide-graphene nanosheets (MnO₂-GNSs) composite was synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal method, in which manganese dioxide (MnO₂) was fabricated by hydrothermal reduction of KMnO₄ with GNSs. The structure and morphology of MnO₂-GNSs composite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A sensitive non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor based on MnO₂-GNSs composite for the detection of low concentration hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was fabricated. The electrochemical properties of MnO₂-GNSs composite modified glassy carbon electrode (MnO₂-GNSs/GCE) were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and amperometry. The observations confirmed that the fabricated sensor exhibited high electrocatalytic activity for oxidation of H₂O₂ owing to the catalytic ability of MnO₂ particles and the conductivity of GNSs. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration curve was linear for the amperometric response versus H₂O₂ concentration over the range 0.5-350 μM with a low detection limit of 0.19 μM (S/N = 3) and high sensitivity of 422.10 μA mM^-1 cm^-2. The determination and quantitative analysis of H₂O₂ in antiseptic solution on MnO₂-GNSs/GCE exhibited percent recovery of 96.50%-101.22% with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.48%-4.47%. The developed MnO₂-GNSs/GCE might be a promising platform for the practical detection of H₂O₂ due to its prominent properties including excellent reproducibility, good anti-interference and repeatability.

A flexible carbon nanotube-modified poly(styrene-butadiene)-based dopamine sensor

In this work, a multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified flexible poly(styrene-butadiene) fiber membrane material was prepared for the sensitive and selective electrochemical detection of dopamine (DA) in human serum and DA injection. The flexible fiber membrane prepared by electrospinning technology is expected to realize its application in wearable devices. The obtained conductive film-based electrochemical sensor can effectively minimize interference caused by ascorbic acid and uric acid. Under the optimized experimental conditions of differential pulse voltammetry, DA gives a linear response in the range of 1-650 μM (R² = 0.996). The detection limit of DA (signal-to noise ratio = 3) was determined to be 0.062 μM.

A ternary nanocomposite based on nickel(iii) oxide@f-CNF/rGO for efficient electrochemical detection of an antipsychotic drug (Klonopin) in biological samples

The formation of the Ni₂O₃@f-CNF/rGO composite for the electrochemical detection of KNP.

Electrochemical Deposition of Nanomaterials for Electrochemical Sensing

The most commonly used methods to electrodeposit nanomaterials on conductive supports or to obtain electrosynthesis nanomaterials are described. Au, layered double hydroxides (LDHs), metal oxides, and polymers are the classes of compounds taken into account. The electrochemical approach for the synthesis allows one to obtain nanostructures with well-defined morphologies, even without the use of a template, and of variable sizes simply by controlling the experimental synthesis conditions. In fact, parameters such as current density, applied potential (constant, pulsed or ramp) and duration of the synthesis play a key role in determining the shape and size of the resulting nanostructures. This review aims to describe the most recent applications in the field of electrochemical sensors of the considered nanomaterials and special attention is devoted to the analytical figures of merit of the devices.

Sensitive amperometric biosensors for detection of glucose and cholesterol using a platinum/reduced graphene oxide/poly(3-aminobenzoic acid) film-modified screen-printed carbon electrode

A facile one-step electrochemical synthesis of a platinum/reduced graphene oxide/poly(3-aminobenzoic acid) (Pt/rGO/P3ABA) nanocomposite film on a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) and its application in the development of sensitive amperometric biosensors was successfully demonstrated herein. The electropolymerization of P3ABA together with co-electrodeposition of rGO and Pt was conducted by cyclic voltammetry, as was the GO reduction to rGO. A Pt/rGO/P3ABA-modified SPCE exhibited excellent electrocatalytic oxidation towards hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and can be employed as an electrochemical platform for the immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOx) and cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) to fabricate glucose and cholesterol biosensors, respectively. Under the optimized conditions at a working potential of +0.50 V, the proposed biosensors revealed excellent linear responses to glucose and cholesterol in the concentration ranges of 0.25-6.00 mM and 0.25-4.00 mM, respectively, with high sensitivities of 22.01 and 15.94 μA mM^-1 cm^-2 and low detection limits (LODs) of 44.3 and 40.5 μM. Additionally, the Michaelis-Menten constant (K_m) of GOx was 3.54 mM, while the K_m of ChOx was 3.82 mM. Both biosensors displayed a good anti-interference ability and clearly exhibited acceptable recoveries for the detection of glucose and cholesterol in a human serum sample (98.2-104.1%).

Nanomaterials: Electrochemical Properties and Application in Sensors

The unique properties of nanoparticles make them an extremely valuable modifying material, being used in electrochemical sensors. The features of nanoparticles affect the kinetics and thermodynamics of electrode processes of both nanoparticles and redox reactions occurring on their surface. The paper describes theoretical background and experimental studies of these processes. During the transition from macro- to micro- and nanostructures, the analytical characteristics of sensors modify. These features of metal nanoparticles are related to their size and energy effects, which affects the analytical characteristics of developed sensors. Modification of the macroelectrode with nanoparticles and other nanomaterials reduces the detection limit and improves the degree of sensitivity and selectivity of measurements. The use of nanoparticles as transducers, catalytic constituents, parts of electrochemical sensors for antioxidant detection, adsorbents, analyte transporters, and labels in electrochemical immunosensors and signal-generating elements is described.

A new analytical device incorporating a nitrogen doped lanthanum metal oxide with reduced graphene oxide sheets for paracetamol sensing

The novel N-CeO₂ nanoparticles decorated on reduced graphene oxide (N-CeO₂@rGO) composite has been synthesized by sonochemical method. The characterization of as prepared nanocomposite was intensely performed by UV-Vis, FT-IR, EDX, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, XRD, and TGA analysis. The synthesized nanomaterial was further investigated for its selective and sensitive sensing of paracetamol (PM) based on a N-CeO₂@rGO modified glassy carbon electrode. A distinct and improved reversible redox peak of PM is obtained at N-CeO₂@rGO nanocomposite compared to the electrodes modified with N-CeO₂ and rGO. It displays a very good performance with a wide linear range of 0.05-0.600 μM, a very low detection limit of 0.0098 μM (S/N = 3), a high sensitivity of 268 μA µM^-1 cm^-2 and short response time (<3 s). Also, the fabricated sensor shows a good sensibleness for the detection of PM in various tablet samples.

An ultra-sensitive electrochemical sensor for the detection of acetaminophen in the presence of etilefrine using bimetallic Pd–Ag/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites

In this study we report a one-step procedure for the fabrication of Pd–Ag bimetallic nanoparticles on the surface of a graphene oxide (rGO) support.

Engineered Carbon-Nanomaterial-Based Electrochemical Sensors for Biomolecules

The study of electrochemical behavior of bioactive molecules has become one of the most rapidly developing scientific fields. Biotechnology and biomedical engineering fields have a vested interest in constructing more precise and accurate voltammetric/amperometric biosensors. One rapidly growing area of biosensor design involves incorporation of carbon-based nanomaterials in working electrodes, such as one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, two-dimensional graphene, and graphene oxide. In this review article, we give a brief overview describing the voltammetric techniques and how these techniques are applied in biosensing, as well as the details surrounding important biosensing concepts of sensitivity and limits of detection. Building on these important concepts, we show how the sensitivity and limit of detection can be tuned by including carbon-based nanomaterials in the fabrication of biosensors. The sensing of biomolecules including glucose, dopamine, proteins, enzymes, uric acid, DNA, RNA, and H2O2 traditionally employs enzymes in detection; however, these enzymes denature easily, and as such, enzymeless methods are highly desired. Here we draw an important distinction between enzymeless and enzyme-containing carbon-nanomaterial-based biosensors. The review ends with an outlook of future concepts that can be employed in biosensor fabrication, as well as limitations of already proposed materials and how such sensing can be enhanced. As such, this review can act as a roadmap to guide researchers toward concepts that can be employed in the design of next generation biosensors, while also highlighting the current advancements in the field.

Fabrication of reduced graphene oxide–bimetallic Pd@Au nanocomposites for simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine and uric acid

The Pd@Au/RGO plays a critical important role in facilitating the electron transfer capability and promoting the highly efficient electrocatalytic performance in the simultaneous determination of AA, UA and DA.