A simple sonochemical approach to fabricate a urea biosensor based on zinc phthalocyanine/graphene oxide/urease bioelectrode

Synthesis and comparison of the performance of two different water-soluble phthalocyanine based electrochemical biosensor

Herein, a comparative study between novel water-soluble phthalocyanine-based biosensors was performed for the application of glucose sensing. For this purpose, two different copper (II) and manganese (III) phthalocyanines and their water-soluble derivatives were synthesized, and then their role as a supporting material for enzyme immobilization was evaluated by comparing their sensor performances. Two different phthalocyanine (AP-OH2-MnQ (MnPc) and AP-OH2-CuQ (CuPc)) were tested using electrochemical biosensor with immobilized glucose oxidase (GOx). To the best of our knowledge, the related water-soluble phthalocyanine-based glucose biosensors were attempted for the first time, and the developed approach resulted in improved biosensor characteristics. The constructed biosensors GE/MnPc/GOx and GE/CuPc/GOx showed good linearity between 0.003-1.0 mM and 0.05-0.4 mM, respectively. The limit of detection was estimated at 0.0026 mM for the GE/MnPc/GOx and 0.019 mM for the GE/CuPc/GOx. KMapp and sensitivity values were also calculated as 0.026 mM and 175.043 µAmM-1 cm-2 for the GE/MnPc/GOx biosensor and 0.178 mM and 117.478 µAmM-1 cm-2 for the GE/CuPc/GOx biosensor. Moreover, the fabricated biosensors were successfully tested to detect glucose levels in beverages with high recovery results. The present study shows that the proposed water-soluble phthalocyanines could be a good alternative for quick and cheap glucose sensing with improved analytical characteristics.

Multifunctional carbon nanomaterials for diagnostic applications in infectious diseases and tumors

Infectious diseases (such as Corona Virus Disease 2019) and tumors pose a tremendous challenge to global public health. Early diagnosis of infectious diseases and tumors can lead to effective control and early intervention of the patient's condition. Over the past few decades, carbon nanomaterials (CNs) have attracted widespread attention in different scientific disciplines. In the field of biomedicine, carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon quantum dots and fullerenes have the ability of improving the accuracy of the diagnosis by the improvement of the diagnostic approaches. Therefore, this review highlights their applications in the diagnosis of infectious diseases and tumors over the past five years. Recent advances in the field of biosensing, bioimaging, and nucleic acid amplification by such CNs are introduced and discussed, emphasizing the importance of their unique properties in infectious disease and tumor diagnosis and the challenges and opportunities that exist for future clinical applications. Although the application of CNs in the diagnosis of several diseases is still at a beginning stage, biosensors, bioimaging technologies and nucleic acid amplification technologies built on CNs represent a new generation of promising diagnostic tools that further support their potential application in infectious disease and tumor diagnosis.

Azaporphyrins Embedded on Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for Potential Use in Electrochemical Sensing-A Review

Phthalocyanines and porphyrazines as macrocyclic aza-analogues of well-known porphyrins were deposited on diverse carbon-based nanomaterials and investigated as sensing devices. The extended π-conjugated electron system of these macrocycles influences their ability to create stable hybrid systems with graphene or carbon nanotubes commonly based on π-π stacking interactions. During a 15-year period, the electrodes modified by deposition of these systems have been applied for the determination of diverse analytes, such as food pollutants, heavy metals, catecholamines, thiols, glucose, peroxides, some active pharmaceutical ingredients, and poisonous gases. These procedures have also taken place, on occasion, in the presence of various polymers, ionic liquids, and other moieties. In the review, studies are presented that were performed for sensing purposes, involving azaporphyrins embedded on graphene, graphene oxide or carbon nanotubes (both single and multi-walled ones). Moreover, possible methods of electrode fabrication, limits of detection of each analyte, as well as examples of macrocyclic compounds applied as sensing materials, are critically discussed.

Recent advancements in urea biosensors for biomedical applications

The quick progress in health care technology as a recurrent measurement of biochemical factors such as blood components leads to advance development and growth in biosensor technology necessary for effectual patient concern. The review wok of authors present a concise information and brief discussion on the development made in the progress of potentiometric, field effect transistor, graphene, electrochemical, optical, polymeric, nanoparticles and nanocomposites based urea biosensors in the past two decades. The work of authors is also centred on different procedures/methods for detection of urea by using amperometric, potentiometric, conductometric and optical processes, where graphene, polymer etc. are utilised as an immobilised material for the fabrication of biosensors. Further, a comparative revision has been accomplished on various procedures of urea analysis using different materials-based biosensors, and it discloses that electrochemical and potentiometric biosensor is the most promise one among all, in terms of rapid response time, extensive shelf life and resourceful design.

Ultrasonic Assisted Synthesis of Size-Controlled Cu-Metal-Organic Framework Decorated Graphene Oxide Composite: Sustainable Electrocatalyst for the Trace-Level Determination of Nitrite in Environmental Water Samples

Excess levels of nitrite ion in drinking water interact with amine functionalized compounds to form carcinogenic nitrosamines, which cause stomach cancer. Thus, it is indispensable to develop a simple protocol to detect nitrite. In this paper, a Cu-metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) with graphene oxide (GO) composite was synthesized by ultrasonication followed by solvothermal method and then fabricated on a glassy carbon (GC) electrode for the sensitive and selective determination of nitrite contamination. The SEM image of the synthesized Cu-MOF showed colloidosome-like structure with an average size of 8 μm. Interestingly, the Cu-MOF-GO composite synthesized by ultrasonic irradiation followed by solvothermal process produce controlled size of 3 μm colloidosome-like structure. This was attributed to the formation of an exfoliated sheet-like structure of GO by ultrasonication in addition to the obvious influence of GO providing the oxygen functional groups as a nucleation node for size-controlled growth. On the other hand, the composite prepared without ultrasonication exhibited 6.6 μm size agglomerated colloidosome-like structures, indicating the crucial role of ultrasonication for the formation of size-controlled composites. XPS results confirmed the presence of Cu(II) in the as-synthesized Cu-MOF-GO based on the binding energies at 935.5 eV for Cu 2p_3/2 and 955.4 eV for Cu 2p_1/2. The electrochemical impedance studies in [Fe(CN)₆]^3-/4- redox couple at the composite fabricated electrode exhibited more facile electron transfer than that with Cu-MOF and GO modified electrodes, which helped to utilize Cu-MOF-GO for trace level determination of nitrite in environmental effluent samples. The Cu-MOF-GO fabricated electrode offered a superior sensitive platform for nitrite determination than the Cu-MOF and GO modified electrodes demonstrating oxidation at less positive potential with enhanced oxidation current. The present sensor detects nitrite in the concentration range of 1 × 10^-8 to 1 × 10^-4 M with the lowest limit of detection (LOD) of 1.47 nM (S/N = 3). Finally, the present Cu-MOF-GO electrode was successfully exploited for nitrite ion determination in lake and dye contaminated water samples.