Nickel hydroxide electrodes as amperometric detectors for carbohydrates in flow injection analysis and liquid chromatography

The preparation of NiO/Ni–N/C nanocomposites and its electrocatalytic performance for methanol oxidation reaction

The NiO/Ni–N/C nanocomposites were prepared through hydrothermal method and further carbonization. The NiO/Ni–N/C₅₀₀ displays the highest MA (1043 mA mg_Ni⁻¹) and SA (18.57 mA cm⁻²) for methanol oxidation reaction.

A three-dimensional nickel–cobalt oxide nanomaterial as an enzyme-mimetic electrocatalyst for the glucose and lactic acid oxidation reaction

Here we demonstrate a highly porous three-dimensional nickel–cobalt oxide (NiCo₂O₄) nanomaterial as a potential glucose oxidase (GOx) enzyme-mimicking catalyst for the electrochemical oxidation of glucose and lactic acid in alkaline medium.

Nickel nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped honeycomb-like carbon frameworks for effective methanol oxidation

Nitrogen-doped honeycomb-like carbon framework supported nickel nanoparticles synthesized by a low-cost and scalable method for effective methanol oxidation.

Electrocatalysis and electroanalysis of nickel, its oxides, hydroxides and oxyhydroxides toward small molecules

The electrocatalysis toward small molecules, especially small organic compounds, is of importance in a variety of areas. Nickel based materials such as nickel, its oxides, hydroxides as well as oxyhydroxides exhibit excellent electrocatalysis performances toward many small molecules, which are widely used for fuel cells, energy storage, organic synthesis, wastewater treatment, and electrochemical sensors for pharmaceutical, medical, food or environmental analysis. Their electrocatalytic mechanisms are proposed from three aspects such as Ni(OH)2/NiOOH mediated electrolysis, direct electrocatalysis of Ni(OH)2 or NiOOH. Under exposure to air or aqueous solution, two distinct layers form on the Ni surface with a Ni hydroxide layer at the air-oxide interface and an oxide layer between the metal substrate and the outer hydroxide layer. The transformation from nickel or its oxides to hydroxides or oxyhydroxides could be further speeded up in the strong alkaline solution under the cyclic scanning at relatively high positive potential. The redox transition between Ni(OH)2 and NiOOH is also contributed to the electrocatalytic oxidation of Ni and its oxides toward small molecules in alkaline media. In addition, nickel based materials or nanomaterials, their preparations and applications are also overviewed here.

Glycobiomimics and glycobiosensors

Following steady advances in analytical technologies, our knowledge in glycomics is now increasing rapidly. Over the last decade, specific glycans have been described that are associated with a range of diseases, such as cancer and inflammation, with host-pathogen interactions and with various stages during stem cell development and differentiation. Simultaneously, deeper structural insight has been gained on glycosylated biopharmaceutical protein therapeutics manufactured in CHO (Chinese-hamster ovary) and other cell systems. This glycomic information is highly relevant for clinicians and biomanufacturing industries as a new class of glycobiomarkers emerges. However, current methods of glycoanalysis are primarily research tools and are not suitable for point-of-care on-site detection and analysis, or sensor devices. Lectin-based glycan detection provides the most promising approach to fill these gaps. However, the limited availability of lectins with high specificity and sensitivity for specific glycan motifs presents one of the main challenges in building reliable glycobiosensors. Recent reports have demonstrated the use of recombinant protein engineering, phage display and aptamer technologies in the production of lectin mimics, as well as the construction of biosensors that are capable of rapidly detecting glycan motifs at low levels in both a labelled and label-free manner. These are primarily proof-of-principle reports at this stage, but some of the approaches, either alone or in combination, will lead to functional glycobiosensors in the coming years which will be valuable tools for the clinical, biopharmaceutical and life science research communities.