Simultaneous analysis of uric acid, xanthine and hypoxanthine using voltammetric sensor based on nanocomposite of palygorskite and nitrogen doped graphene

Non-enzymatic biosensor based on F,S-doped carbon dots/copper nanoarchitecture applied in the simultaneous electrochemical determination of NADH, dopamine, and uric acid in plasma

This work presents the synthesis and characterization of an innovative F,S-doped carbon dots/CuONPs hybrid nanostructure obtained by a direct mixture between F,S-doped carbon dots obtained electrochemically and copper nitrate alcoholic solution. The hybrid nanostructures synthesized were characterized by absorption spectroscopy in the Ultraviolet region (UV-vis), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and different electrochemical techniques. The fluoride and sulfur-doped carbon dots/CuONPs nanostructures were used to prepare a non-enzymatic biosensor on a printed carbon electrode, exhibiting excellent electrocatalytic activity for the simultaneous determination of NADH, dopamine, and uric acid in the presence of ascorbic acid with a detection limit of 20, 80, and 400 nmol L-1, respectively. The non-enzymatic biosensors were also used to determine NADH, dopamine, and uric acid in plasma, and they did not suffer significant interference from each other.

Polythiophene-wrapped Chitosan Nanofibrils with a Bouligand Structure toward Electrochemical Macroscopic Membranes

Exploring structural biomimicry is a great opportunity to replicate hierarchical frameworks inspired by nature in advanced functional materials for boosting new applications. In this work, we present the biomimetic integration of polythiophene into chitosan nanofibrils in a twisted Bouligand structure to afford free-standing macroscopic composite membranes with electrochemical functionality. By considering the integrity of the Bouligand structure in crab shells, we can produce large, free-standing chitosan nanofibril membranes with iridescent colors and flexible toughness. These unique structured features lead the chitosan membranes to host functional additives to mimic hierarchically layered composites. We used the iridescent chitosan nanofibrils as a photonic platform to investigate the host-guest combination between thiophene and chitosan through oxidative polymerization to fabricate homogeneous polythiophene-wrapped chitosan composites. This biomimetic incorporation fully retains the twisted Bouligand organization of nanofibrils in the polymerized assemblies, thus giving rise to free-standing macroscopic electrochemical membranes. Our further experiments are the modification of the biomimetic polythiophene-wrapped chitosan composites on a glassy carbon electrode to design a three-electrode system for simultaneous electrochemical detection of uric acid, xanthine, hypoxanthine, and caffeine at trace concentrations.

Poly(para toluene sulphonic acid) and gold nanoparticles modified glassy carbon electrode for simultaneous voltammetric sensing of xanthine and hypoxanthine

A voltammetric sensor has been developed for the individual as well as simultaneous determination of xanthine (XA) and hypoxanthine (HX) based on an electroactive-polymerised layer of para toluene sulphonic acid and gold nanoparticles composite modified glassy carbon electrode ([p(PTSA)]/AuNPs/GCE)]. Under optimized conditions, an enhancement in the oxidation currents with well-separated and well-resolved peak position and a lower shift in the peak potentials were observed. By square wave voltammetry, the simultaneous determinations of XA and HX were achieved in the linear ranges 6.00 × 10-4 M to 3.00 × 10-6 M and 5.00 × 10-4 M to 1.00 × 10-5 M with detection limits of 4.09 × 10-7 M and 4.10 × 10-7 M, respectively. The mechanistic aspects were unveiled from linear sweep voltammetric studies and found that the electrode processes were diffusion-controlled. Finally, the sensor was successfully employed for the simultaneous determination of spiked amount of XA and HX in synthetic urine and serum samples.

Removal and Mechanism of Cadmium, Lead and Copper in Water by Functional Modification of Silkworm Excrement Biochar

A new type of biochar, called GBC, was prepared from silkworm excrement, and then modified by chitosan combined with pyromellitic dianhydride. The removal of mono-metal and polymetals (Pb, Cd and Cu) from an aqueous solution by GBC was investigated in this research. Compared to unmodified biochar, the removal rate of Pb and Cd by GBC was about 12% higher, while that of Cu was about 94.6% higher. It also shows the types of functional groups in biochar have a great impact on their adsorption. The removal of Pb is mainly involved in the N-C=O functional group, the removal of Cd is mainly involved in N-containing functional group and C=C bond, and that of Cu is mainly involved in N-containing functional group, carboxyl group, hydroxyl group, and a carbonyl group. Five adsorption–desorption cycles of GBC were carried out, and it was found that the adsorption capacities of GBC for Pb, Cd and Cu decreased by 7.28%, 10.78% and 6.07%, respectively, indicating that GBC had a good renewable performance. The adsorption capacity of GBC for Cu in different water samples is between 89.62 and 93.47 mg·g⁻¹, indicating that GBC has great application potential for the removal of Cu in wastewater.

An interference-free new xanthine biosensor based on immobilized enzyme-nanogold conjugate on carbon nanotube doped poly(3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene) composite film

A new design of biosensor based on polymeric nano(bio)composite has been proposed for the selective detection of xanthine to be used in the clinical analysis as well as food quality control. The xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) gene ofPseudomonas aerogenosastrain CEBP1 wascloned to obtainpurifiedenzyme through affinity chromatography. fMWCNTdoped PEDOTwas electrodeposited on the working electrodeto enhance the sensitivity and selectivity of the biosensor. Bio-synthesized gold nanoparticles conjugated XOR (Au-XOR) was covalently immobilized on the polymeric nanocomposite. The enzymatic activity was enhanced 1.12 times with increased substrate affinity. The surface morphology and structural properties of the polymeric layer were investigated using SEM, FESEM, TEM. Electrochemical characteristics were performed by cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Xanthine was oxidized (pH 7.0) on the uniquely designed polymeric nano(bio)composite modified electrode at a lower anodic potential of + 0.446 V vs. Ag/AgCl (3 M NaCl)at optimized DPV conditions. The simple, newly designed Au-XOR/fMWCNT-PEDOT/GCE exhibited interference-free reproducibility and stability (∼4 months) with excellent sensitivity of 16.075 µA.µM^-1.cm^-2for the quantification of xanthine in biological samples such as blood, tissue, urine. The applicability of thebiosensor was validatedby comparing the sensing results for the real biological fluidic solutions with HPLC data (RE = 0.5-3.1%).

Review on recent advances in fabrication of enzymatic and chemical sensors for hypoxanthine

Hypoxanthine is an important product of the nucleotide degradation pathway. It has been considered as a potential marker for assessing meat freshness and clinical diagnosis. In the review, we focus on advancement made in the fabrication of hypoxanthine sensors. Several traditional methods are being utilized for the detection of hypoxanthine, but these methods are expensive, complex, require pretreatment of the sample which is time-consuming and trained persons to operate. Sensors have emerged as simple, rapid, economic, disposable, and portable tools for hypoxanthine detection in biological samples. In particular, the review describes the significant role of hypoxanthine in clinical and food applications. Classification of sensors into enzymatic and non-enzymatic sensors along with the different methods used for xanthine oxidase immobilization and type of transducers used for hypoxanthine detection are briefly explained.

Cobalt-doped cerium oxide nanocrystals shelled 1D SnO2 structures for highly sensitive and selective xanthine detection in biofluids

In this study, we prepared a three-dimensional self-supported electrocatalyst based on a thin layer of cerium oxide nanocrystals doped with cobalt heteroatoms (CeO₂-Co) and then uniformly shelled over one-dimensional tin oxide (SnO₂) nanorods supported by carbon cloth substrate. The material was used as a binder-free sensor that could nonenzymatically detect xanthine (XA) with an excellent sensitivity of 3.56 μA μM^-1, wide linear range of 25 nM to 55 µM, low detection limit of 58 nM, and good selectivity. A screen-printed electrode based on the material accurately detected XA in food samples as well. The achievements were resulted from synergistic effects coming from the unique core@shell formation and Co-doping strategy, which efficiently modified electronic structure of the material to expose more electroactive site numbers/types and fast charge transfer, thereby producing intrinsic catalytic properties for XA oxidation. These results suggested that the SnO₂@CeO₂-Co is potential for developing efficient sensor to detect XA with good sensitivity and accuracy in food-quality monitoring.

Fabrication of low-cost sustainable electrocatalyst: a diagnostic tool for multifunctional disorders in human fluids

In purine metabolism, the xanthine oxidoreductase enzyme converts hypoxanthine (HXN) to xanthine (XN) and XN to uric acid (UA). This leads to the deposition of UA crystals in several parts of the body and the serum UA level might be associated with various multifunctional disorders. The dietary intake of caffeine (CF) and ascorbic acid (AA) decreases the UA level in the serum, which leads to cellular damage. Hence, it is highly needed to monitor the UA level in the presence of AA, XN, HXN, and CF and vice versa. Considering this sequence of complications, the present paper reports the fabrication of an electrochemical sensor using low-cost N-doped carbon dots (CDs) for the selective and simultaneous determination of UA in the presence of AA, XN, HXN, and CF at the physiological pH. The colloidal solution of CDs was prepared by the pyrolysis of asparagine and fabricated on a GC electrode by cycling the potential from -0.20 to +1.2 V in a solution containing CDs and 0.01 M H2SO4. Here, the surface -NH2 functionalities of CDs were used to make a thin film of CDs on the GC electrode. FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed the involvement of the -NH2 group in the formation of the CD film. HR-TEM analysis depicts that the formed CDs showed spherical particles with a size of 1.67 nm and SEM analysis exhibits the 89 nm CD film on the GC electrode surface. The fabricated CD film was successfully used for the sensitive and selective determination of UA. The determination of UA was achieved selectively in a mixture consisting of AA, XN, HXN, and CF with 50-fold high concentration. The CDs-film fabricated electrode has several benefits over the bare electrode: (i) well-resolved oxidation peaks for five analytes, (ii) boosted sensitivity, (iii) shifted oxidation as well as on-set potentials toward less positive potentials, and (iv) high stability. The practical utility of the present sensor was tested by simultaneously determining the multifactorial disorders-causing agents in human fluids. The electrocatalyst developed in the present study is sustainable and can be used for multiple analyses; besides, the electrochemical method used for the fabrication of the CD film is environmentally benign.

CuO Hollow Cubic Caves Wrapped with Biogenic N-Rich Graphitic C for Simultaneous Monitoring of Uric Acid and Xanthine

Herein, we synthesized hollow cubic caves of CuO (HC) and wrapped it with N-rich graphitic C (NC), derived from a novel biogenic mixture composed of dopamine (DA) and purine. The synthesized NC wrapped HC (NC@HC) sensor shows enhanced electrocatalytic efficacy compared to unwrapped CuO with shapes including HC, sponge (SP), cabbage (CB), and solid icy cubes (SC). The shape and composition of synthesized materials were confirmed through field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), whereas interfacial surface energy was calculated through contact angle measurement. The designed NC@HC sensor shows a remarkable response toward the simultaneous detection of uric acid (UA) and xanthine (Xn) with detection limits of 0.017 ± 0.001 (S/N of 3) and 0.004 ± 0.001 μM (S/N of 3), respectively. In addition, this platform was successfully applied to monitor UA from the gout patient serum. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on using such novel NC@HC materials for the simultaneous monitoring of UA and Xn.

Convenient synthesis of three-dimensional hierarchical CuS@Pd core-shell cauliflowers decorated on nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide for non-enzymatic electrochemical sensing of xanthine

A novel hybrid with three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical CuS@Pd core-shell cauliflowers decorated on nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (CuS@Pd/N-RGO) has been prepared by a facile wet-chemical route without utilizing any template molecules and surfactants. The characterization results reveal that the 3D flower-like structure of CuS "core" is composed of interconnecting nanoplates, which is conductive to the loading of Pd nanoparticles' "shell" and results in the robust interaction between the core and shell for the formation of CuS@Pd cauliflowers. Anchoring such appealing CuS@Pd cauliflowers on the two-dimensional N-RGO can efficaciously inhibit the aggregation of CuS@Pd cauliflowers and accelerate the kinetics of xanthine oxidation. Benefiting from the multi-functional properties and unique morphology, the sensor constructed by CuS@Pd/N-RGO exhibits excellent performance for non-enzymatic detection of xanthine including a wide detection range of 0.7-200.0 μM (0.94 V vs. SCE), a low detection limit of 28 nM (S/N = 3), high reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) = 4.1%), and commendable stability (retained 90% of the initial electrochemical responses after storage for 30 days), which is amongst the best of various electrochemical sensors reported for xanthine assays till date. Reliable and satisfying recoveries (95-105%, RSD ≤ 4.1%) are achieved for xanthine detection in real samples. The inspiring results make the uniquely structural CuS@Pd/N-RGO greatly promising in non-enzymatic electrochemical sensing applications. Graphical abstract A high-performance non-enzymatic xanthine sensor has been constructed by the three-dimensional hierarchical CuS@Pd core-shell cauliflowers decorated on nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide.

A simple electrochemical approach to fabricate functionalized MWCNT-nanogold decorated PEDOT nanohybrid for simultaneous quantification of uric acid, xanthine and hypoxanthine

Medical diagnostics and detection of food spoilage require estimation of hypoxanthine (HX), xanthine (XN), and uric acid (UA). A selective sensing platform has been proposed for simultaneous detection of all these species. Functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube (fMWCNT) stabilized nanogold decorated PEDOT:TOS polymeric nanocomposite (Au-PEDOT-fMWCNT) was synthesized through rapid one-step electropolymerization to enhance conductivity and active surface area by several folds. Electrochemical activities of the proposed sensing platform were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Analyses through SEM, FESEM and TEM were performed to explore the surface morphology and elemental analysis of the polymeric nanohybrid was investigated by XPS, Raman, FTIR, XRD spectroscopy. Electro-catalysis of UA, XN and HX occurred at low oxidation potentials i.e. 0.082, 0.463 and 0.808 V, respectively in the optimized conditions. The uniquely designed simple, interference free Au-PEDOT-fMWCNT/GCE sensor exhibited high selectivity, good reproducibility, reusability (∼180 times) and stability (∼3 month) with excellent sensitivity of 1.73, 14.31 and 3.82 μA μM^-1 cm^-2 for UA, XN and HX, respectively. The sensor exhibited linear ranges of detection as 0.1-800, 0.05-175 and 0.1-150 μM with detection limits of 199.3, 24.1 and 90.5 nM for quantification of UA, XN and HX respectively. The performance of the proposed sensor was validated by addition of UA, XN and HX in human serum, urine and fish samples by comparing to those using HPLC. The results indicated good applicability of the proposed sensor for simultaneous detection of UA, XN, HX in real biological fluids.

Triethylamine-controlled Cu-BTC frameworks for electrochemical sensing fish freshness

The simultaneous determination of xanthine (XA) and hypoxanthine (HXA) has been proved to be a feasible approach for the assessment of fish freshness. In this study, copper(II) nitrate and 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (H₃BTC) were used as precursors to prepare various Cu-BTC frameworks with the addition of various amounts of triethylamine at room temperature. The characterization of X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy testified that the obtained materials are Cu-BTC frameworks. However, the amount of triethylamine had significant effects on the morphology, active response area and electron transfer ability of Cu-BTC frameworks. The oxidation behavior of XA and HXA demonstrated that the prepared Cu-BTC frameworks exhibited higher sensing activity, with greatly-enhanced oxidation signals. More importantly, the amount of triethylamine obviously affected the accumulation capacity and signal enhancement ability of Cu-BTCs toward XA and HXA, as confirmed from double potential step chronocoulometry. Based on the triethylamine-tuned signal amplification strategy of Cu-BTC frameworks, a highly-sensitive and simple electrochemical sensing system was developed for the assessment of fish freshness by simultaneous detection of XA and HXA. The developed sensing method was used in practical samples, and the results were validated by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A new disposable microfluidic electrochemical paper-based device for the simultaneous determination of clinical biomarkers

A new disposable microfluidic electrochemical paper-based device (ePAD) consisting of two spot sensors in the same working electrode for the simultaneous determination of uric acid and creatinine was developed. The spot 1 surface was modified with graphene quantum dots for direct uric acid oxidation and spot 2 surface modified with graphene quantum dots, creatininase and a ruthenium electrochemical mediator for creatinine oxidation. The ePAD was employed to construct an electrochemical sensor (based on square wave voltammetry analysis) for the simultaneous determination of uric acid and creatinine in the 0.010-3.0 µmol L^-1 range. The device showed excellent analytical performance with a very low simultaneous detection limit of 8.4 nmol L^-1 to uric acid and 3.7 nmol L^-1 to creatinine and high selectivity. The ePAD was applied to the rapid and successful determination of those clinical biomarkers in human urine samples.