In situ growth of covalent organic frameworks TpBD on electrode for electrochemical determination of aflatoxin M1

Novel Sensor Approaches of Aflatoxins Determination in Food and Beverage Samples

The rapid quantification of toxins in food and beverage products has become a significant issue in overcoming and preventing many life-threatening diseases. Aflatoxin-contaminated food is one of the reasons for primary liver cancer and induces some tumors and cancer types. Advancements in biosensors technology have brought out different analysis methods. Therefore, the sensing performance has been improved for agricultural and beverage industries or food control processes. Nanomaterials are widely used for the enhancement of sensing performance. The enzymes, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP), antibodies, and aptamers can be used as biorecognition elements. The transducer part of the biosensor can be selected, such as optical, electrochemical, and mass-based. This review explains the classification of major types of aflatoxins, the importance of nanomaterials, electrochemical, optical biosensors, and QCM and their applications for the determination of aflatoxins.

State-of-the-art electrochemical biosensors based on covalent organic frameworks and their hybrid materials

As the development of global population and industry civilization, the accurate and sensitive detection of intended analytes is becoming an important and great challenge in the field of environmental, medical, and public safety. Recently, electrochemical biosensors have been constructed and used in sensing fields, such as antibiotics, pesticides, specific markers of cancer, and so on. Functional materials have been designed and prepared to enhance detection performance. Among all reported materials, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are emerging as porous crystalline materials to construct electrochemical biosensors, because COFs have many unique advantages, including large surface area, high stability, atom-level designability, and diversity, to achieve a far better sensing performance. In this comprehensive review, we not only summarize state-of-the-art electrochemical biosensors based on COFs and their hybrid materials but also highlight and discuss some typical examples in detail. We finally provide the challenge and future perspective of COFs-based electrochemical biosensors.

A direct electrochemical sensor based on covalent organic frameworks/platinum nanoparticles for the detection of ofloxacin in water

A direct electrochemical sensor based on covalent organic frameworks (COFs)/platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) composite was fabricated for the detection of ofloxacin (OFX) in water. Firstly, the COF material was synthesized via the condensation reaction of 1,3,5-tris(4-aminophenyl)benzene (TAPB) with terephthalaldehyde (TPA) and integrated with PtNPs by in situ reduction. Then, TAPB-TPA-COFs/PtNPs composite was loaded onto the surface of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by drip coating to construct the working electrode (TAPB-TPA-COFs/PtNPs/GCE). The electrochemical performance of TAPB-TPA-COFs/PtNPs/GCE showed a significant improvement compared with that of TAPB-TPA-COFs/GCE, leading to a 3.2-fold increase in the electrochemical signal for 0.01 mM OFX. Under optimal conditions, the TAPB-TPA-COFs/PtNPs/GCE exhibited a wide linear range of 9.901 × 10-3-1.406 µM and 2.024-15.19 µM with a detection limit of 2.184 × 10-3 µM. The TAPB-TPA-COFs/PtNPs/GCE-based electrochemical sensor with excellent performance provides great potential for the rapid and trace detection of residual OFX.

Sensitive and rapid detection of influenza A virus for disease surveillance using dual-probe electrochemical biosensor

Influenza A virus (IAV) can cause influenza, a highly infectious zoonotic respiratory disease, and early detection is essential to prevent and control its rapid spread in the population. Given the limitations of traditional detection methods in clinical laboratories, we report a large surface TPB-DVA COFs (TPB: 1,3,5-Tris(4-aminophenyl) benzene, DVA: 1,4-Benzenedicarboxaldehyd, COFs: Covalent organic frameworks) nanomaterial modified electrochemical DNA biosensor, which has dual-probe specific recognition and signal amplification. The biosensor enables quantitative detection of influenza A viruses' complementary DNA (cDNA) from 10 fM to 1 × 10³ nM (LOD = 5.42 fM) with good specificity and high selectivity. The reliability of the biosensor and portable device was verified by comparing the virus concentrations in animal tissues with those measured by digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) (P > 0.05). Moreover, the potential for influenza surveillance in this work was demonstrated by detecting the tissue samples from mice at different stages of infection. In summary, the good performance of this electrochemical DNA biosensor we proposed suggested it has the potential to be a rapid detection device for the influenza A virus, which could assist doctors or other professionals in obtaining rapid and accurate results for outbreak investigation and disease diagnosis.

Recent Progress of Covalent Organic Frameworks Applied in Electrochemical Sensors

As an emerging porous crystalline organic material, the covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are given more and more attention in many fields, such as gas storage and separation, catalysis, energy storage and conversion, luminescent devices, drug delivery, pollutant adsorption and removal, analysis and detection due to their special advantages of high crystallinity, flexible designability, controllable porosities and topologies, intrinsic chemical and thermal stability. In recent years, the COFs are applied in analytical chemistry, for instance, chromatography, solid-phase microextraction, luminescent and colorimetric sensing, surface-enhanced Raman scattering and electroanalytical chemistry. The COFs decorated electrodes show high performance for detecting trace substances with remarkable selectivity and sensitivity, such as heavy metal ions, glucose, hydrogen peroxide, drugs, antibiotics, explosives, phenolic compounds, pesticides, disease metabolites and so on. This review mainly summarized the application of COF based electrochemical sensor according to different target analytes.

The covalent organic framework based nylon membrane extraction coupled with UHPLC-MS/MS for highly efficiency determination of hexabromocyclododecanes in environmental water

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) have given their adverse effects on environment and human health, and highly sensitive analysis of HBCDs in water is urgent. In this study, a new method for the determination of trace HBCDs in water was established by covalent organic framework (COF) based nylon membrane extraction (ME) coupled with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The COF had been self-assembled onto the nylon membrane in a gentle strategy to fabricate COF nylon membrane. Several important ME parameters including the dosage of COF, pH, eluent condition and salinity were systematically investigated. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.011-0.014 and 0.038-0.047 ng/L for three HBCDs, respectively. The linear ranges were from 0.04 to 20 ng/L, and the relative standard deviations were 5.7-17.8 % (intra-day) and 5.2-14.1 % (inter-day). In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations on adsorption energy proved that the introduction of halogen bond (XB) made a key contribution to high extraction efficiency and excellent selectivity of COF nylon membrane for HBCDs. The 500 mL of samples, including tap water and reservoir water, could be extracted only in 23 min. The established method presented highly sensitive for ultra-trace analysis of HBCDs in environmental water.

Covalent organic framework: A state-of-the-art review of electrochemical sensing applications

Covalent organic framework (COF), a kind of porous polymer with crystalline properties, is a periodic porous framework material with precise regulation at atomic level, which can be formed by the orderly connection of pre-designed organic construction units through covalent bonds. Compared with metal-organic frameworks, COFs exhibit unique performance, including tailor-made functions, stronger load ability, structural diversity, ordered porosity, intrinsic stability and excellent adsorption features, are more conducive to the expansion of electrochemical sensing applications and the universality of applications. In addition, COFs can accurately integrate organic structural units with atomic precision into ordered structures, so that the structural diversity and application of COFs can be greatly enriched by designing new construction units and adopting reasonable functional strategies. In this review, we mainly summarized state-of-the-art recent advances of the classification and synthesis strategy of COFs, the design of functionalized COF for electrochemical sensors and COFs-based electrochemical sensing. Then, an overview of the considerable recent advances made in applying outstanding COFs to establish electrochemical sensing platform, including electrochemical sensor based on voltammetry, amperometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, electrochemiluminescence, photoelectrochemical sensor and others. Finally, we discussed the positive outlooks, critical challenges and bright directions of COFs-based electrochemical sensing in the field of disease diagnosis, environmental monitoring, food safety, drug analysis, etc.

Covalent Organic Frameworks-Based Electrochemical Sensors for Food Safety Analysis

Food safety is a key issue in promoting human health and sustaining life. Food analysis is essential to prevent food components or contaminants causing foodborne-related illnesses to consumers. Electrochemical sensors have become a desirable method for food safety analysis due to their simple, accurate and rapid response. The low sensitivity and poor selectivity of electrochemical sensors working in complex food sample matrices can be overcome by coupling them with covalent organic frameworks (COFs). COFs are a kind of novel porous organic polymer formed by light elements, such as C, H, N and B, via covalent bonds. This review focuses on the recent progress in COF-based electrochemical sensors for food safety analysis. Firstly, the synthesis methods of COFs are summarized. Then, a discussion of the strategies is given to improve the electrochemistry performance of COFs. There follows a summary of the recently developed COF-based electrochemical sensors for the determination of food contaminants, including bisphenols, antibiotics, pesticides, heavy metal ions, fungal toxin and bacterium. Finally, the challenges and the future directions in this field are discussed.

Screen-printed electrochemical immunosensor based on a novel nanobody for analyzing aflatoxin M1 in milk

This study aimed to devise a nontoxic electrochemical immunosensor to quantitatively determine aflatoxin M₁ by chronoamperometry with novel anti-idiotypic nanobody-functionalized screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs). Anti-idiotype nanobodies (AIdnb) were developed to replace the high toxic chemically synthesized antigen. AIdnb was immobilized on the surface of SPCE via covalent coupling as capture reagent. The functionalized SPCEs were followed by characterization using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy mapping, and atomic force microscopy. After optimizing experimental parameters, the assembled immunosensor exhibited a good linearity range of 0.25-5.0 ng/mL, with the limit of detection of 0.09 ng/mL. The immunosensor showed a satisfactory selectivity to AFM₁, without interference from analogs, including zearalenone, ochratoxin, and fumonisin B₁. For practical application, the developed immunosensor was validated using real spiked samples with the recovery range 82.0%-108.0% and relative standard deviation (RSD) 10.1%-13.0%, indicating that it could be used in milk samples.

Room temperature fabrication of magnetic covalent organic frameworks for analyzing sulfonamide residues in animal-derived foods

A magnetic solid phase extraction method based on magnetic covalent organic frameworks (TpBD@Fe₃ O₄ ) combined with high performance liquid chromatography has been developed to detect the sulfonamides including sulfadiazine, sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine and sulfamethoxazole in milk and meat. TpBD@Fe₃ O₄ were synthesized at room temperature under mild reaction conditions with a simple and rapid operation. The TpBD@Fe₃ O₄ exhibited higher extraction efficiency because of the π-π and electrostatic interactions between the benzene ring structure of the TpBD and the SA molecules. The extraction conditions including the dosage of adsorbents, the type and dosage of eluent, the elution time and the pH of the sample solution were fully optimized. The detection results showed good linearity over a wide range (50-5×10⁴ ng/mL) and low detection limits (3.39-5.77 ng/mL) for the SA targets. The practicability of this MSPE-HPLC method was further evaluated by analyzing milk and meat samples, with recoveries of the targets of 71.6%-110.8% in milk and 71.9%-109.7% in pork. The successful detection of SAs residues has demonstrated the TpBD@Fe₃ O₄ excellent practical potential for analyzing pharmaceutical residues in animal-derived foods. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

A novel 2D mesoporous phosphazene-anthraquinone-based covalent organic polymer: synthesis, characterization and supercapacitor applications

A novel phosphazene anthraquinone-based covalent organic polymer (HD-1) was successfully designed and synthesized through a simple polymerization reaction. The as-prepared material was used as an electrode active material for a supercapacitor.