Cyclic voltammetry determination of epinephrine with a carbon fiber ultramicroelectrode

Not Only Graphene Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials: Recent Trends in Electrochemical (Bio)sensing Area for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials (e.g., graphene) have attracted growing attention in the (bio)sensing area and, in particular, for biomedical applications because of their unique mechanical and physicochemical properties, such as their high thermal and electrical conductivity, biocompatibility, and large surface area. Graphene (G) and its derivatives represent the most common 2D nanomaterials applied to electrochemical (bio)sensors for healthcare applications. This review will pay particular attention to other 2D nanomaterials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and MXenes, applied to the electrochemical biomedical (bio)sensing area, considering the literature of the last five years (2018-2022). An overview of 2D nanostructures focusing on the synthetic approach, the integration with electrodic materials, including other nanomaterials, and with different biorecognition elements such as antibodies, nucleic acids, enzymes, and aptamers, will be provided. Next, significant examples of applications in the clinical field will be reported and discussed together with the role of nanomaterials, the type of (bio)sensor, and the adopted electrochemical technique. Finally, challenges related to future developments of these nanomaterials to design portable sensing systems will be shortly discussed.

Neurotransmitter Assay for In Vivo Nerve Signal Detection Using Bismuth Immobilized on a Carbon Nanotube Paste Electrode

BACKGROUND

Voltammetric analysis of the neurotransmitter epinephrine (EP) was performed using bismuth immobilized on a carbon nanotube paste electrode (BCE), whose properties were compared with those of a carbon nanotube paste electrode (CE). BCE was found to be more efficient in detecting EP.

METHODS

The analytical parameters used were 0.3 V square-wave (SW) stripping voltammetric amplitude, 400 Hz frequency, -0.8 V initial potential, and 0.015 V increment potential. The optimized conditions were applied to an assay of a carp's front fin.

RESULTS

A BCE was inserted into a carp's front fin muscle, and a stimulus was given every 50 s. This circuit is easy to use and does not require much analytical preparation time.

CONCLUSIONS

The working electrode is miniscule, and its detection limit is very low. The in vivo muscle's chronoamperometric nerve currents were analyzed. These results have potential for applications in medical diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, interface controllers, and other fields.

Dual-Analyte Sensing with a Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Based on Enhancement-Mode Organic Electrochemical Transistors

Novel enhancement-mode organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have been prepared by poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) de-doped polyethylenimine on the multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified viscose yarn. The fabricated devices exhibit low power consumption with a high transconductance of 6.7 mS, rapid response time < 2 s, and excellent cyclic stability. In addition, the device has washing durability and bending and long-term stability suitable for wearable applications. Biosensors based on enhancement-mode OECTs for the selective detection of adrenaline and uric acid (UA) are developed by using molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-functionalized gate electrodes. The detection limits of adrenaline and UA analysis are as low as 1 pM, with the linear ranges of 0.5 pM to 10 μM and 1 pM to 1 mM, respectively. Moreover, the sensor based on enhancement-mode transistors can efficiently amplify the current signals according to the modulation of the gate voltage. The MIP-modified biosensor has high selectivity in the presence of interferents and desirable reproducibility. Additionally, due to the wearable nature of the developed biosensor, this sensing tool has the capability of being integrated with fabrics. Therefore, it has successfully been applied in textiles for the determination of adrenaline and UA in artificial urine samples. The excellent recoveries and rsds are 90.22-109.05% and 3.97-6.94%, respectively. Ultimately, these sensitive, low-power, wearable, and dual-analyte sensors help to develop non-laboratory tools for early disease diagnosis and clinical research.

Carbon-Based Quantum Dots for Electrochemical Detection of Monoamine Neurotransmitters-Review

Imbalance in the levels of monoamine neurotransmitters have manifested in severe health issues. Electrochemical sensors have been designed for their determination, with good sensitivity recorded. Carbon-based quantum dots have proven to be an important component of electrochemical sensors due to their high conductivity, low cytotoxicity and opto-electronic properties. The quest for more sensitive electrodes with cheaper materials led to the development of electrochemical sensors based on carbon-based quantum dots for the detection of neurotransmitters. The importance of monoamine neurotransmitters (NTs) and the good electrocatalytic activity of carbon and graphene quantum dots (CQDs and GQDs) make the review of the efforts made in the design of such sensors for monoamine NTs of huge necessity. The differences and the similarities between these two quantum dots are highlighted prior to a discussion of their application in electrochemical sensors over the last ten years. Compared to other monoamine NTs, dopamine (DA) was the most studied with GQDs and CQD-based electrochemical sensors.

FTacV study of electroactive immobilized enzyme/free substrate reactions: Enzymatic catalysis of epinephrine by a multicopper oxidase from Thermothelomyces thermophila

In the present work, a kinetic analysis is made concerning the reaction of an electroactive immobilized enzyme with a free substrate, based on a Michaelis-Menten scheme. The proposed kinetic equations are investigated numerically for conditions describing large amplitude fast Fourier transform alternating current voltammetry (FTacV), under different reaction states (transient or steady state for the reaction intermediate as well as quasi or complete reversibility of the electrochemical step). The dependence of two chief observables that occur from the analysis of the results of the method, that is, the maximum of the harmonics and the potential shift of the corresponding dominant peaks, on substrate concentration is presented. The FTacV method is applied experimentally for an immobilized laccase-like multicopper oxidase from Thermothelomyces thermophila, TtLMCO1, and its reaction with epinephrine. From the experimental findings it is shown that the intrinsic characteristics of the system do not lead to the extraction of the desired kinetic data although indications on the relation between the kinetic constants is revealed. Finally, the response of the third harmonic for the first additions of epinephrine at subnanomolarity range can be exploited for the detection of epinephrine at rather low concentrations.

MoS2 pixel arrays for real-time photoluminescence imaging of redox molecules

Measuring the behavior of redox-active molecules in space and time is crucial for understanding chemical and biological systems and for developing new technologies. Optical schemes are noninvasive and scalable, but usually have a slow response compared to electrical detection methods. Furthermore, many fluorescent molecules for redox detection degrade in brightness over long exposure times. Here, we show that the photoluminescence of "pixel" arrays of monolayer MoS₂ can image spatial and temporal changes in redox molecule concentration. Because of the strong dependence of MoS₂ photoluminescence on doping, changes in the local chemical potential substantially modulate the photoluminescence of MoS₂, with a sensitivity of 0.9 mV / Hz on a 5 μm × 5 μm pixel, corresponding to better than parts-per-hundred changes in redox molecule concentration down to nanomolar concentrations at 100-ms frame rates. This provides a new strategy for visualizing chemical reactions and biomolecules with a two-dimensional material screen.

Electrocatalytic oxidation of Epinephrine and Norepinephrine at metal oxide doped phthalocyanine/MWCNT composite sensor

Glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with metal oxides (MO = Fe₃O₄, ZnO) nanoparticles doped phthalocyanine (Pc) and functionalized MWCNTs, and the electrocatalytic properties were studied. Successful synthesis of the metal oxide nanoparticles and the MO/Pc/MWCNT composite were confirmed using FTIR, Raman and SEM techniques. The electrodes were characterized using cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. The electrocatalytic behaviour of the electrode towards epinephrine (EP) and norepinephrine (NE) oxidation was investigated using CV and DPV. Result showed that GCE-MWCNT/Fe₃O₄/2,3-Nc, GCE-MWCNT/Fe₃O₄29H,31H-Pc, GCE-MWCNT/ZnO/2,3-Nc and GCE-MWCNT/ZnO/29H,31H-Pc electrodes gave enhanced EP and NE current response. Stability study indicated that the four GCE-MWCNT/MO/Pc modified electrodes were stable against electrode fouling effect with the percentage NE current drop of 5.56–5.88% after 20 scans. GCE-MWCNT/Fe₃O₄/29H,31H-Pc gave the lowest limit of detection (4.6 μM) towards EP while MWCNT/ZnO/29H,31H-Pc gave the lowest limit of detection (1.7 μM) towards NE. The limit of detection and sensitivity of the electrodes compared well with literature. Electrocatalytic oxidation of EP and NE on GCE-MWCNT/MO/Pc electrodes was diffusion controlled with some adsorption of electro-oxidation reaction intermediates products. The electrodes were found to be electrochemically stable, reusable and can be used for the analysis of EP and NE in real life samples.

Highly selective detection of Epinephrine at oxidized Single-Wall Carbon Nanohorns modified Screen Printed Electrodes (SPEs)

Oxidized Single-Wall Carbon Nanohorns (o-SWCNHs) were used, for the first time, to assemble chemically modified Screen Printed Electrodes (SPEs) selective towards the electrochemical detection of Epinephrine (Ep), in the presence of Serotonine-5-HT (S-5HT), Dopamine (DA), Nor-Epineprhine (Nor-Ep), Ascorbic Acid (AA), Acetaminophen (Ac) and Uric Acid (UA). The Ep neurotransmitter was detected by using Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV), in a wide linear range of concentration (2-2500 μM) with high sensitivity (55.77 A M(-1) cm(-2)), very good reproducibility (RSD% ranging from 2 to 10 for different SPEs), short response time for each measurement (only 2s) and low detection of limit (LOD=0.1 μM). o-SWCNHs resulted in higher analytical performances when compared with other nanomaterials used in literature for electrochemical sensors assembly.

Highly sensitive trivalent copper chelate-luminol chemiluminescence system for capillary electrophoresis detection of epinephrine in the urine of smoker

Epinephrine (EP) is one of the most important neurotransmitters and hormones. Some previous literatures show that there is a close relation between its release and smoking. To compare the levels of EP in urines of smokers and nonsmokers, a sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) system, luminol-diperiodatocuprate (III) (K(5)[Cu(HIO(6))(2)], DPC), has been developed and validated for the determination of EP after CE separation. The DPC-luminol-EP CL reaction showed very intensive emission and fast kinetic characteristics, thus led to a high sensitivity in the flow-through detection mode for capillary electrophoresis. With the peak height as a quantitative parameter, the relative CL intensity was linear with the EP concentration in the range of 2.0-400ng/mL, with a limit of detection of 0.82ng/mL (S/N=3). The reproducibility was assessed by intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) for 11 replicate determinations of EP standard samples at low, medium and high concentrations. The intra- and inter-day RSDs for CL signals were 5.5%-6.6% and 6.1%-7.5%, respectively, and those for migration times were 3.4%-5.8% and 4.3%-6.3%, respectively. The presented method was successfully applied to the determination of EP in EP injection and urine samples of smokers and nonsmokers. The recovery test results for urine samples ranged from 86.5 to 112.0%, which demonstrated the reliability of this method. The results for urine sample detection indicate that the average level of EP in the urines of the smoker group is obviously higher than that in the urines of the nonsmoker group, which may demonstrate that smoking can stimulate the release of EP in human body.

Ag ion irradiated based sensor for the electrochemical determination of epinephrine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in human biological fluids

A promising and highly sensitive voltammetric method has been developed for the first time for the determination of epinephrine (EP) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) using 120 MeV Ag ion irradiated multi-walled carbon nano tube (MWCNT) based sensor. The MWCNT were irradiated at various fluences of 1e12, 3e12 and 1e13 ions cm(-2) using palletron accelerator. The simultaneous determination of EP and 5-HT has been carried out in phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.20 using square wave voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry. Experimental results suggested that irradiation of MWCNT by Ag ions enhanced the electrocatalytic activity due to increase in effective surface area and insertion of Ag ions, leading to a remarkable enhancement in peak currents and shift of peak potentials to less positive values as compared to the unirradiated MWCNT (pristine). The developed sensor exhibited a linear relationship between peak current and concentration of EP and 5-HT in the range 0.1-105 μM with detection limit (3σ/b) of 2 nM and 0.75 nM, respectively. The practical utility of irradiation based MWCNT sensor has been demonstrated for the determination of EP and 5-HT in human urine and blood samples.

Monolayer-protected clusters of gold nanoparticles: impacts of stabilizing ligands on the heterogeneous electron transfer dynamics and voltammetric detection

Surface electrochemistry of novel monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (MPCAuNPs) is described. Protecting ligands, (1-sulfanylundec-11-yl)tetraethylene glycol (PEG-OH) and (1-sulfanylundec-11-yl)poly(ethylene glycol)ic acid (PEG-COOH), of three different percent ratios (PEG-COOH:PEG-OH), 1:99 (MPCAuNP-COOH(1%)), 50:50 (MPCAuNP-COOH(50%)), and 99:1 (MPCAuNP-COOH(99%)), were studied. The electron transfer rate constants (k(et)/s(-1)) in organic medium decreased as the concentration of the surface-exposed -COOH group in the protecting monolayer ligand is increased: MPCAuNP-COOH(1%) (approximately 5 s(-1)) > MPCAuNP-COOH(50%) (approximately 4 s(-1)) > MPCAuNP-COOH(99%) (approximately 0.5 s(-1)). In aqueous medium, the trend is reversed. The surface pK(a) was estimated as approximately 8.2 for the MPCAuNP-COOH(1%), while both MPCAuNP-COOH(50%) and MPCAuNP-COOH(99%) showed two pK(a) values of about 5.0 and approximately 8.0. These results have been interpreted in terms of the quasi-solidity and quasi-liquidity of the terminal -OH and -COOH head groups, respectively. MPCAuNP-COOH(99%) excellently suppressed the voltammetric response of the ascorbic acid but enhanced the electrocatalytic detection of epinephrine compared to the other MPCAuNPs studied. This study reveals important factors that should be considered when designing electrode devices that employ monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles and possibly for some other redox-active metal nanoparticles.

Preparation of Aminylferrocene/Nanogold Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode and its Electrocatalysis on Dopamine

Aminylferrocene(FcAI)-Nanogold(NG) modified glassy carbon electrode (FcAI/NG/GCE) was prepared by the Au-N bond between Au and FcAI. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was employed to study the surface of the modified electrode. The electrochemical behavior of dopamine (DA) on the modified electrode was investigated and it was found that the modified electrode had an obvious electrocatalytic effect on DA. Compared with a bare GCE, the modified electrode exhibited an apparent shift of the oxidation peak potential in the negative potential direction and a marked enhancement in the current response for DA. We investigated the determination of DA on the modified electrode by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Linear calibration curve was obtained in the range of 7.0 x 10(-7) mol/L to 6x10(-4) mol/L of DA in 0.1 mol/L phosphate buffer solution (pH = 7.0) with a correlation coefficient of 0.9989. The detection limit (S/N = 3) of DA was estimated to be 1.0 x 10(-7) mol/L. Especially, by using the modified electrode, we can separate the oxidation peaks of ascorbic acid (AA) and DA in the PBS and it was satisfactory for the determination of DA with the interference of AA.

Separation and determination of epinephrine and dopamine in traditional Chinese medicines by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with laser induced fluorescence detection

A micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography method with laser-induced fluorescence detection was developed for the analysis of epinephrine and dopamine after derivatization with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole. The optimum derivatization conditions were: 30 mM sodium borate (pH adjusted to 8.0 with 1.0 M HCl), reaction time 30 min at 60 degrees C. Baseline separation was achieved within 14 min with a running buffer composed of 10 mM sodium borate + 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (pH adjusted to 9.5 with 0.1 M NaOH) and an applied voltage of 15 kV. Good linearity relationships (correlation coefficients: 0.9991 for epinephrine and 0.9985 for dopamine) between peak areas and concentrations of the analytes were obtained. The detection limits and quantification limits for epinephrine and dopamine were 0.0038 mg/L and 0.013 mg/L, and 0.065 mg/L and 0.020 mg/L, respectively. The method was applied to the analysis of the two compounds in two Chinese medicines with recoveries in the range of 92.6-108.7%.

Epinephrine quantification in pharmaceutical formulations utilizing plant tissue biosensors

A plant tissue biosensor associated with flow injection analysis is proposed to determine epinephrine in pharmaceutical samples. The polyphenol oxidase enzymes present in the fibers of a palm tree fruits (Livistona chinensis), catalyses the oxidation of epinephrine to epinephrinequinone as a primary product. This product is then electrochemically reduced (at -0.10 V versus Ag/AgClsat) on the biosensor surface and the resulting current is used for the quantification of epinephrine. The biosensor provides a linear response for epinephrine in the concentration range from 5.0 x 10(-5) to 3.5 x 10(-4) mol l(-1). The limit of detection estimated for this interval was 1.5 x 10(-5) mol l(-1) and the correlation coefficient of 0.998, working under a flow rate of 2.0 ml min(-1) and using a sample loop of 100 microl. The repeatability (R.S.D. for 10 consecutive determinations of a 3.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1) epinephrine solution) was 3.1%. The results obtained by the method here proposed were compared with the official UV spectrophotometric procedure and also using a plant tissue reactor. The responses obtained with the proposed strategies were in good agreement with both ways of analyses, whereas the values obtained by the official spectrophotometric method was strongly affected by benzoic acid, present in the formulation of pharmaceutical product utilized for inhalation. Such favorable results obtained with the carbon paste biosensor or utilizing the bioreactor, joined with the simplicity of its preparation turns these procedures very attractive for epinephrine quantification in pharmaceutical products.

Simultaneous voltammetric measurement of ascorbic acid, epinephrine and uric acid at a glassy carbon electrode modified with caffeic acid

A stable electroactive thin film of poly(caffeic acid) has been deposited on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode by potentiostatic technique in an aqueous solution containing caffeic acid. Poly(caffeic acid) was used as a modified electrode for the detection of ascorbic acid (AA), epinephrine (EP), uric acid (UA) and their mixture by cyclic voltammetry. This modified electrode exhibits potent and persistent electron-mediating behavior followed by well-separated oxidation peaks towards AA, EP and UA with activation overpotential. For the ternary mixture containing AA, EP and UA, the three compounds can well separate from each other at the scan rate of 20 mVs(-1) with a potential difference of 156, 132 and 288 mV between AA and EP, EP and UA and AA and UA, respectively, which was large enough to determine AA, EP and UA individually and simultaneously. The catalytic peak current obtained, was linearly dependent on the AA, EP and UA concentrations in the range of 2.0 x 10(-5) to 1.0 x 10(-3) mol l(-1), 2.0 x 10(-6) to 8.0 x 10(-5) mol l(-1) and 5.0 x 10(-6) to 3.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1), and the detection limits for AA, EP and UA were 7.0 x 10(-6), 2.0 x 10(-7) and 6.0 x 10(-7) mol l(-1), respectively. The modified electrode shows good sensitivity, selectivity and stability, and has been applied to the determination of EP in practical injection samples and that of EP, UA and AA simultaneously with satisfactory results.

A Sensitive Fluorimetric Method for the Determination of Epinephrine

A sensitive fluorimetric method for the determination of epinephrine (E) is described in this paper. The experiments indicate that epinephrine can react with formaldehyde (HCHO) in an acid medium to form a condensation product, which can be oxidized by potassium hexacyanoferrate(III) (K3[Fe(CN)6]) in borax buffer (pH = 9.5). The reaction product can emit strong fluorescence. Ascorbic acid (AA) is used in order to consume excess potassium hexacyanoferrate and stabilize the fluorescent product. Under optimum conditions, a linear relationship has been obtained between the fluorescence intensity and the concentration of epinephrine in the range of 1.4 x 10(-9) - 2.1 x 10(-6) mol/l, and the detection limit is 2.4 x 10(-10) mol/l (4.3 x 10(-11) g/ml, S/N = 3). The method is applied for the determination of E in both actual sample and the synthetic sample with E and norepinephrine (NE) by using the coupling technique of synchronous fluorimetry and H-point standard addition method, and the results obtained are satisfactory.