Tailoring synthesis strategies for polyaniline-prussian blue composite in view of energy storage and H2O2 sensing application

Bio-functionalized carbon dots for signaling immuno-reaction of carcinoembryonic antigen in an electrochemical biosensor for cancer biomarker detection

Early diagnosis of cancer demands sensitive and accurate detection of cancer biomarkers in blood. Carbon dots (CDs) bio-functionalization with antibodies, peptides or aptamers have played significant role in cancer diagnosis and targeted cancer therapy. Herein, a biosensor for detection of cancer biomarker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in blood serum has been designed using CDs bio-functionalized with HRP-conjugated CEA antibody (CUCDs@CEAAb2) as detection probe. CDs were synthesized by upscaling of cow urine, a nitrogen rich biomass waste, by hydrothermal method. Detection probe based on CDs resulted in 3.5 times higher sensitivity as compared to conventional electrochemical sandwich immunoassay. To further improve the sensor performance, hyper-branched polyethylenimine grafted poly amino aniline (PEI-g-PAANI) was used as the sensing interface, which enabled immobilization of higher amount of capture antibody. Detection of CEA in human blood serum coupled with wide linear range (0.5-50 ng/ml), good specificity, stability, reproducibility and low detection limit (10 pg/ml) signified the excellence of CUCDs based CEA immunosensor. CUCDs exhibited excitation wavelength dependent fluorescence property and showed strong blue emission under UV irradiation. MTT assay indicated that the material is not toxic towards human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and MG63 osteosarcoma cells (cell viability > 90%). The present study demonstrates a methodology for valorization of animal waste to a cost-effective carbon based functional nanomaterial for clinical detection of cancer biomarkers.

Redox-labelled detection probe enabled immunoassay for simultaneous detection of multiple cancer biomarkers

Some of the cancer biomarkers often lack specificity and sensitivity; thus, simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers can make the diagnosis more accurate. Also, simple sensing system without utilization of extra reagents like mediator or substrate during detection event is desirable for point-of-care testing. To address this, mediator and substrate-free amperometric biosensor for simultaneous detection of cancer biomarkers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) have been demonstrated by designing two different redox-labelled detection probes. Colloidal nanoparticles of polyaniline-pectin conjugated with AFP antibody along with ferrocene and silver nanoparticles conjugated with CEA antibody along with anthraquinone were used as redox probes to bind with AFP and CEA during the detection event. Sensor constructed using carboxylic acid tethered polyaniline as immobilization matrix displayed 5 times wider linear range than conventional polyaniline for AFP and CEA detection by sandwich electrochemical assay. The detection limit was 30 pg mL^-1 for AFP and 80 pg mL^-1 for CEA. The biosensor displayed appropriate sensitivity, good specificity, and negligible cross-reactivity between the two targets. The proposed sensor was used to determine APF and CEA in human blood serum. The strategy demonstrated can be further extended for detection of panel of cancer biomarkers by designing appropriate redox probes.

Study of Growth and Properties of Electrodeposited Sodium Iron Hexacyanoferrate Films

Sodium iron hexacyanoferrate (NaFeHCF) films were electrodeposited on Au/Cr/Si for the study of growth behavior and physical properties. The NaFeHCF films were studied by different analytical methods to prove the chemical composition, morphology and crystal structure. The grains of the film grow with a cubic structure with an average lattice parameter of 10.10 Å and the preferential growth direction along the [111] direction of the cubic cell. The films show a repeatable bipolar resistive switching behavior accompanied by high current changes (up to a factor of ~10⁵). The different resistive states in the materials are dominated by ohmic conduction.

Carboxylic acid-tethered polyaniline as a generic immobilization matrix for electrochemical bioassays

Polyaniline (PANI) was functionalized by thiol-ene click chemistry to obtain carboxylic acid-tethered polyaniline (PCOOH). The versatility of PCOOH as an immobilization matrix was demonstrated by constructing four different biosensors for detection of metabolites and cancer biomarker. Immobilization efficiency of PCOOH was investigated by surface plasmon resonance and fluorescence microscopic analysis which revealed dense immobilization of biomolecules on PCOOH as compared to conventional PANI. A sandwich electrochemical biosensor was constructed using PCOOH for detection of liver cancer biomarker, α-fetoprotein (AFP). The sensor displayed sensitivity of 15.24 µA (ng mL^-1)^-1 cm^-2, with good specificity, reproducibility (RSD 3.4%), wide linear range (0.25-40 ng mL^-1) at - 0.1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), and a low detection limit of 2 pg mL^-1. The sensor was validated by estimating AFP in human blood serum samples where the AFP concentrations obtained are consistent with the values estimated using ELISA. Furthermore, utilization of PCOOH for construction of enzymatic biosensor was demonstrated by covalent immobilization of glucose oxidase, uricase, and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) for detection of glucose, uric acid, and H₂O₂, respectively. The biosensors displayed reasonable sensitivity (50, 148, 127 µA mM^-1 cm^-2), and linear ranges (0.1-5, 0.1-6, 0.1-7 mM) with a detection limit of 10, 1, and 8 µM for glucose, uric acid, and H₂O₂, respectively. The present study demonstrates the capability of PCOOH to support and enable oxidation of H₂O₂ generated by oxidase enzymes as well as HRP enzyme catalyzed reduction of H₂O₂. Thus, PCOOH offers a great promise as an immobilization matrix for development of high-performance biosensors to quantify a variety of other disease biomarkers. Carboxylic acid-tethered polyaniline synthesized by thiol-ene click chemistry was used as matrix to construct four different electrochemical biosensors for detection of cancer biomarker α-fetoprotein, glucose, uric acid, and H₂O₂.

A non-enzymatic electrochemical biosensor based on Au@PBA(Ni-Fe):MoS2 nanocubes for stable and sensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide released from living cells

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is the main product of enzymatic reactions and plays an important role in biological processes. The detection of H2O2 inside organisms or cells is critical. Here, we report a nickel-iron Prussian blue analogue nanocube doped with molybdenum disulfide and Au nanoparticles (Au@PBA(Ni-Fe):MoS2) as an electrochemical sensing material for the stable detection of H2O2 in neutral solutions for a long time. First, the Prussian blue analogue (PBA(Ni-Fe)) is synthesized by a simple charge-assembly technology, and then etched into PBA(Ni-Fe):MoS2 hollow nanocubes by a high-temperature hydrothermal reaction. Finally, Au nanoparticles are reduced inside the PBA(Ni-Fe):MoS2in situ to generate Au@PBA(Ni-Fe):MoS2 nanocubes. Ni-doping enhances the nanocube's stability in neutral solutions; as a result, the sensor can maintain a stable current response towards H2O2 reduction for more than 1 h. The sensing material can meet the needs of a long-time test. The introduction of Au enhances the electron transfer efficiency, which endows the sensor with good reduction ability for H2O2 at 0 V over a wide linear range (0.5-200 μM and 210-3000 μM) and with a low detection limit (0.23 μM (S/N = 3)), which fulfills the requirements for the detection of H2O2 in a biological system. The sensor can sense H2O2 released from cells stimulated by ascorbic acid. Au@PBA(Ni-Fe):MoS2 provides good guidance for the future development of efficient biosensors to be applied in cell biology.

Prussian blue-doped nanosized polyaniline for electrochemical detection of benzenediol isomers

Simultaneous speciation of benzenediol isomers (BDIs), 1,2-benzenediol (catechol, CC), 1,3-benzenediol (resorcinol, RS), and 1,4-benzenediol (hydroquinone, HQ), was investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) using a graphite paste electrode (GPE) modified with Prussian blue-polyaniline nanocomposite. The modified GPE showed good stability, sensitivity, and selectivity properties for all the three BDIs. Prussian blue-doped nanosized polyaniline (PBNS-PANI) was synthesized first by using mechanochemical reactions between aniline and ferric chloride hexahydrate as the oxidants and then followed by the addition of potassium hexacyanoferrate(II) in a solid-state and template-free technique. The material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The DPV measurements are performed in phosphate electrolyte solution with pH 4.0 at a potential range of - 0.1 to 1.0 V. The proposed modified electrode displayed a strong, stable, and continuous three well-separated oxidation peaks towards electrooxidation at potentials 0.20, 0.31, and 0.76 V for HQ, CC, and RS, respectively. The calibration curves were linear from 1 to 350.5 μM for both HQ and CC, while for RS, it was from 2 to 350.5 μM. The limit of detection was determined to be 0.18, 0.01, and 0.02 μM for HQ, CC, and RS, respectively. The analytical performance of the PBNS-PANI/GPE has been evaluated for simultaneous determination of HQ, CC, and RS in creek water, commercial hair dye, and skin whitening cream samples with satisfactory recoveries between 90 and 106%. Overall, we demonstrated that the presence of NS-PANI and PB resulted in a large redox-active surface area that enabled a promising analytical platform for simultaneous detection of BDIs. Graphical abstract.

Oligoaniline-functionalized polysiloxane/Prussian blue composite towards bifunctional electrochromic supercapacitors

We report the preparation of a novel oligoaniline-functionalized polysiloxane/Prussian blue composite, which exhibits improved electrochromic properties and approving supercapacitor performance featuring charge storage indicating functionalization.

Selective Functionalization Blended with Scaffold Conductivity in Graphene Acid Promotes H2O2 Electrochemical Sensing

The widespread industrial use of H₂O₂ has provoked great interest in the development of new and more efficient materials for its detection. Enzymatic electrochemical sensors have drawn particular attention, primarily because of their excellent selectivity. However, their high cost, instability, complex immobilization, and inherent tendency toward denaturation of the enzyme significantly limit their practical usefulness. Inspired by the powerful proton-catalyzed H₂O₂ reduction mechanism of peroxidases, we have developed a well-defined and densely functionalized carboxylic graphene derivative (graphene acid, GA) that serves as a proton source and conductive electrode for binding and detecting H₂O₂. An unprecedented H₂O₂ sensitivity of 525 μA cm^-2 mM^-1 is achieved by optimizing the balance between the carboxyl group content and scaffold conductivity of GA. Importantly, the GA sensor greatly outperforms all reported carbon-based H₂O₂ sensors and is superior to enzymatic ones because of its simple immobilization, low cost, and uncompromised sensitivity even after continuous operation for 7 days. In addition, GA-based sensing electrodes remain highly selective in the presence of interferents such as ascorbic acid, paracetamol, and glucose, as well as complex matrices such as milk. GA-based sensors thus have considerable potential for use in practical industrial sensing technologies.

Current Innovations of Metal Hexacyanoferrates-Based Nanocomposites toward Electrochemical Sensing: Materials Selection and Synthesis Methods

Mixed valence transition metal hexacyanoferrates (MeHCF)-Prussian blue and its analogs receive enormous research interest in the electrochemical sensing field. In recent years, conducting materials such as conducting polymer, carbon nanomaterial, and noble metals have been used to form nanocomposites with MeHCF. The scope of this review offers the reasons behind the preparation of various MeHCF based nanocomposite toward electrochemical detection. We primarily focus on the current progress of the development of MEHCF-based nanocomposites. The synthesis methods for these nanocomposites are also reviewed and discussed.

Morphology and Structure of Electrodeposited Prussian Blue and Prussian White Thin Films

The compound Prussian Blue (PB), and its reduced form Prussian White (PW) are nowadays considered, in applied and fundamental research groups, as potential materials for sustainable energy storage devices. In this work, these compounds were prepared by potentiostatic electrochemical synthesis, by using different deposition voltages and thicknesses. Thick, compact and uniform layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. Results have shown a well-defined transition voltage for growing Prussian Blue phases and a strong dependence of the morphology/growing orientation of the samples as a function of applied potential and thickness. For the negative potential tested of -0.10 V vs. SCE, a mixture of cubic and rhombohedral phases was observed.