Microfluidic flow injection analysis system for the electrochemical detection of dopamine using diazonium-grafted copper nanoparticles on multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified surfaces

In this proof-of-concept study, a microfluidic flow injection analysis (FIA) system was developed using multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified screen-printed carbon electrodes (CNTSPEs) that were modified with copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) following the electrodeposition of the diazonium salt of 4-aminothiophenol to form 4-thiophenol-conjugated CuNPs (CuNPs-CNTSPE). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) were used to characterize the size of CuNPs, morphology and elemental analysis of CuNPs-CNTSPE, respectively. Using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), the charge-transfer resistance (Rct) of CuNPs-CNTSPE was found to be 20-fold lower than that of CNTSPE. The CuNPs-CNTSPE displayed an oxidation peak for dopamine at -0.08 V which is ∼80 mV lower than the one detected using CNTSPE. The modified electrode was used in microfluidic flow injection analysis and offline systems for sensitive detection of dopamine (DA). The pH, flow rate, loop volume, concentration, and type of surfactant were all optimized for on-chip detection. Under the optimal conditions, using phosphate electrolyte solution (pH 6) containing 0.05% (w/v) Tween 20® as the carrier at a flow rate of 0.6 mL min-1 and a loop volume of 50 μL, the calibration curve was linear from 1.5 to 500 nM with a limit of detection of 0.33 nM. This technique was used for the successful detection of DA in real samples with recovery ranging from 96.5% to 103.8%. The microfluidic FIA system described here has the potential to be used as an electrochemical point-of-care device for rapid DA detection with high sensitivity and reproducibility.

Zinc Anodes Modified by One-Molecular-Thick Self-Assembled Monolayers for Simultaneous Suppression of Side-Reactions and Dendrite-Formation in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Repeated charge/discharge in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) commonly results in surface corrosion/passivation and dendrite formation on zinc anodes, which is a major challenge for the commercialization of zinc-based batteries. In this work, metallic Zn modified by self-assembled monolayers is described as a viable anode for ZIBs. ω-mercaptoundecanoic acid that is spontaneously adsorbed on Zn (MUDA/Zn) contributes to the simultaneous suppression of side reactions and dendrite formation in ZIBs. Though one-molecular-thick, densely packed alkyl chains prohibit H₂ O and H⁺ from making direct contact with the underlying Zn, and surface carboxylate moieties (-COO^- ) effectively repel anionic species (OH^- ) in a solution, which renders a Zn anode inert against zincate formation within a wide range of pH. In contrast, the electrostatic attraction between surface-carboxylates and cations increases the concentration of Zn²⁺ on the surface of MUDA/Zn to facilitate Zn plating/stripping with less overpotentials. The high concentration of Zn²⁺ also results in an increased number of nucleation sites, which enhances the lateral growth of Zn with no formation of dendrites. As a result, MUDA/Zn shows excellent stability during prolonged Zn plating/stripping within a wide range of pH. The advantageous properties of MUDA/Zn are also retained in full-cells coupled with δ-MnO₂ cathodes.

Effect of Intermediate Semiconducting TiOx Thin Films on Nanoparticle-Mediated Electron Transfer: Electrooxidation of CO

The concept of nanoparticle-mediated electron transfer (eT) across insulating thin films was elucidated theoretically by Allongue and Chazalviel in 2011. In their model, metal nanoparticles (NPs) are immobilized atop passivating, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). They found that under certain conditions, related to the thickness of the SAM and the size of the NPs, efficient faradaic oxidation and reduction reactions could proceed at the NP surface. In the absence of NPs, however, eT was suppressed by the insulating SAM thin films. Allongue and Chazalviel concluded that, within certain bounds, eT is mediated by fast tunneling between the conductive electrode and the metal NPs, while the kinetics of the redox reaction are controlled by the NPs. This understanding has been confirmed using a variety of experimental models. The theory is based on electron tunneling; therefore, the nature of the intervening medium (the insulator in prior studies) should not affect the eT rate. In the present manuscript, however, we show that the theory breaks down under certain electrochemical conditions when the medium between conductors is an n-type semiconductor. Specifically, we find that in the presence of either Au or Pt NPs immobilized on a thin film of TiOx, CO electrooxidation does not proceed. In contrast, the exact same systems lead to the efficient reduction of oxygen. At present, we are unable to explain this finding within the context of the model of Allongue and Chazalviel.

Sensitive electrochemical immunosensor to detect prohibitin 2, a potential blood cancer biomarker

Blood cancers are difficult to cure completely and frequently show a poor prognosis. Recently, prohibitin 2 (PHB2) has been shown to be a potential biomarker for blood cancers. Sandwich ELISA can be used as a reference method for quantitative analysis of PHB2; however, ELISA can be challenging for early diagnosis and continuous monitoring method due to the need for large sample volumes (25 μL <), technical expertise, complex procedure, relative high cost, and non-portability. Thus, this study developed a sensitive and time efficient electrochemical immunosensor for detecting PHB2 from a blood cancer patient. It is a simple and portable platform consisting of a disposable electrode and blood sample volume of 4 μL. The sensor uses a gold nanostructured electrode and square wave voltammetry (SWV) measurement of a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) label to amplify the electrochemical signal. The immunosensor could quantitatively detect PHB2 with high sensitivity (limit of detection [LoD] = 0.04 ng/mL) and satisfactory reproducibility (relative standard deviation [RSD] <5.2%). The sensor achieved an LoD of 0.63 ng/mL with satisfactory recovery (89.1-104.7%) and reproducibility (RSD <6.4%) with PHB2 spiked into white blood cell (WBC) lysates. When the sensor was compared to a reference ELISA to determine the PHB2 concentrations in WBC lysate samples from healthy patients and those with blood cancer, the correlation coefficient (R²) was 0.996. A 3.3-fold difference was detected in the measured PHB2 concentration between blood cancer patients and healthy individuals. Accordingly, this study suggests a sensitive and accurate analytical method for quantitatively detecting the PHB2 in blood samples.

Bimetallic Nanomaterials-Based Electrochemical Biosensor Platforms for Clinical Applications

Diabetes is a foremost health issue that results in ~4 million deaths every year and ~170 million people suffering globally. Though there is no treatment for diabetes yet, the blood glucose level of diabetic patients should be checked closely to avoid further problems. Screening glucose in blood has become a vital requirement, and thus the fabrication of advanced and sensitive blood sugar detection methodologies for clinical analysis and individual care. Bimetallic nanoparticles (BMNPs) are nanosized structures that are of rising interest in many clinical applications. Although their fabrication shares characteristics with physicochemical methodologies for the synthesis of corresponding mono-metallic counterparts, they can display several interesting new properties and applications as a significance of the synergetic effect between their two components. These applications can be as diverse as clinical diagnostics, anti-bacterial/anti-cancer treatments or biological imaging analyses, and drug delivery. However, the exploitation of BMNPs in such fields has received a small amount of attention predominantly due to the vital lack of understanding and concerns mainly on the usage of other nanostructured materials, such as stability and bio-degradability over extended-time, ability to form clusters, chemical reactivity, and biocompatibility. In this review article, a close look at bimetallic nanomaterial based glucose biosensing approaches is discussed, concentrating on their clinical applications as detection of glucose in various real sample sources, showing substantial development of their features related to corresponding monometallic counterparts and other existing used nanomaterials for clinical applications.

Plasmonic Measurement of Electron Transfer between a Single Metal Nanoparticle and an Electrode through a Molecular Layer

We study electron transfer associated with electrocatalytic reduction of hydrogen on single platinum nanoparticles separated from an electrode surface with an alkanethiol monolayer using a plasmonic imaging technique. By varying the monolayer thickness, we show that the reaction rate depends on electron tunneling from the electrode to the nanoparticle. The tunneling decay constant is ∼4.3 nm^-1, which is small compared to those in literature for alkanethiols. We attribute it to a reduced tunneling barrier resulting from biasing the electrode potential negatively to the hydrogen reduction regime. In addition to allowing study of electron transfer of single nanoparticles, the work demonstrates an optical method to measure charge transport in molecules electrically wired to two electrodes.

Metal Nanoparticle Enhancement of Electron Transfer to Tethered Redox Centers through Self-Assembled Molecular Films

Metal-nanoparticle-mediated electron transfer (ET) across an insulator thin film containing nanoparticles with attached redox centers was studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Specifically, a gold spherical microelectrode was modified with 16-amino-1-hexa-decanethiol, creating an insulator film. This was followed by the electrostatic adsorption of gold nanoparticles and the covalent attachment of Os²⁺ redox centers. A variation of the Creager-Wooster method was developed to get quantitative information regarding the ET kinetics of the system. The experimental data obtained from a single measurement was fitted with a model that decouples two or more ET processes with different time constants and considers a Gaussian distribution of tunneling distances. Two parallel ET mechanisms were observed: one in which the electrons flow by tunneling between the surface and the redox couples with a low k_ET⁰ = 1.3 s^-1 and a second one in which an enhancement of the electron transfer is produced due to the presence of the gold nanoparticles with a k_ET⁰ = 7 × 10⁴ s^-1. In this study, we demonstrate that the gold nanoparticle electron transfer enhancement is present only in the local environment of the nanoparticle, showing that the nanoscale architecture is crucial to maximize the enhancement effect.

Electrocatalytic Reduction of Oxygen on Platinum Nanoparticles in the Presence and Absence of Interactions with the Electrode Surface

We report that ultraviolet/ozone (UV/O3) treatment can be used to remove sixth-generation, hydroxyl-terminated poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers from dendrimer-encapsulated Pt nanoparticles (Pt DENs) previously immobilized onto a pyrolyzed photoresist film (PPF) electrode. Results from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical experiments indicate that removal of the dendrimer proceeds without changes to the size, shape, or electrocatalytic properties of the encapsulated nanoparticles. The UV/O3 treatment did not damage the PPF electrode. The electrocatalytic properties of the DENs before and after removal of the dendrimer were nearly identical.

Charging and discharging at the nanoscale: Fermi level equilibration of metallic nanoparticles

The redox properties of metallic nanoparticles are discussed, in particular the relationships between excess charge, size and the Fermi level of the electrons. The redox potentials are derived using simple electrostatic models to provide a straightforward understanding of the basic phenomena. The different techniques used to measure the variation of Fermi level are presented. Finally, redox aspects of processes such as toxicity, electrochromicity and surface plasmon spectroscopy are discussed.

Electrochemical properties of metal-oxide-coated carbon electrodes prepared by atomic layer deposition

Here we report on the electrochemical properties of carbon electrodes coated with thin layers of Al2O3 and SnO2. These oxide films were deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) and range in thickness from 1 to 6 nm. Electrochemical experiments show that the thinnest oxide layers contain defects that penetrate to the underlying carbon electrode. However, oxygenation of the carbon surface prior to ALD increases the surface concentration of nucleation sites for oxide growth and suppresses the defect density. Films of Al2O3 just ∼3-4 nm in thickness are free of pinholes. Slightly thicker coatings of SnO2 are required for equivalent passivation. Both Al2O3 and SnO2 films are stable in both neutral and acidic electrolytes even after repeated voltammetric scanning. The results reported here open up the possibility of studying the effect of oxide supports on electrocatalytic reactions.

Heterogeneous electron transfer at nanoscopic electrodes: importance of electronic structures and electric double layers

Recent insights into the nanoscopic electrode size and structure effects on heterogeneous ET kinetics are presented.

Probing individual redox PEGylated gold nanoparticles by electrochemical--atomic force microscopy

Electrochemical-atomic force microscopy (AFM-SECM) was used to simultaneously probe the physical and electrochemical properties of individual ~20 nm sized gold nanoparticles functionalized by redox-labeled PEG chains. The redox PEGylated nanoparticles were assembled onto a gold electrode surface, forming a random nanoarray, and interrogated in situ by a combined AFM-SECM nanoelectrode probe. We show that, in this so-called mediator-tethered (Mt) mode, AFM-SECM affords the nanometer resolution required for resolving the position of individual nanoparticles and measuring their size, while simultaneously electrochemically directly contacting the redox-PEG chains they bear. The dual measurement of the size and current response of single nanoparticles uniquely allows the statistical distribution in grafting density of PEG on the nanoparticles to be determined and correlated to the nanoparticle diameter. Moreover, because of its high spatial resolution, Mt/AFM-SECM allows "visualizing" simultaneously but independently the PEG corona and the gold core of individual nanoparticles. Beyond demonstrating the achievement of single-nanoparticle resolution using an electrochemical microscopy technique, the results reported here also pave the way toward using Mt/AFM-SECM for imaging nano-objects bearing any kind of suitably redox-labeled (bio)macromolecules.

The influence of organic-film morphology on the efficient electron transfer at passivated polymer-modified electrodes to which nanoparticles are attached

The impact of polymer-film morphology on the electron-transfer process at electrode/organic insulator/nanomaterial architectures is studied. The experimental data are discussed in the context of the most recent theory modelling the nanoparticle-mediated electron-transfer process at electrode/insulator/nanomaterial architectures proposed by Chazalviel and Allongue [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 762-764]. A previous report [Anal. Chem. 2013, 85, 1073-1080] by us qualitatively verified the theory and demonstrates a transition from thickness-independent to thickness-dependent electron transfer as the layer thickness exceeds a certain threshold. This follow-up study explores a different polymer, poly(phenylenediamine), and focuses on the effect of the uniformity of organic film on electron transfer at these hybrid structures. Electron-transfer kinetics of modified surfaces, which were assessed using the redox species Ru(NH3)6(3+) in aqueous solution, showed that a thickness-dependent electron-transfer regime is achieved with poly(phenylenediamine). This is attributed to the sufficiently thin films never being fabricated with this polymer. Rather, it is suggested that thin poly(phenylenediamine) layers have a globular structure with poor film homogeneity and pinhole defects.

On the hopping efficiency of nanoparticles in the electron transfer across self-assembled monolayers

Redox reactions of solvated molecular species at gold-electrode surfaces modified by electrochemically inactive self-assembled molecular monolayers (SAMs) are found to be activated by introducing Au nanoparticles (NPs) covalently bound to the SAM to form a reactive Au-alkanedithiol-NP-molecule hybrid entity. The NP appears to relay long-range electron transfer (ET) so that the rate of the redox reaction may be as efficient as directly on a bare Au electrode, even though the ET distance is increased by several nanometers. In this study, we have employed a fast redox reaction of surface-confined 6-(ferrocenyl) hexanethiol molecules and NPs of Au, Pt and Pd to address the dependence of the rate of ET through the hybrid on the particular NP metal. Cyclic voltammograms show an increasing difference in the peak-to-peak separation for NPs in the order Au<Pt<Pd, especially when the length of the alkanedithiol increases from octanedithiol to decanedithiol. The corresponding apparent rate constants, kapp , for decanedithiol are 1170, 360 and 14 s(-1) for NPs of Au, Pt and Pd, respectively, indicating that the efficiency of NP mediation of the ET clearly depends on the nature of the NP. Based on a preliminary analysis rooted in interfacial electrochemical ET theory, combined with a simplified two-step view of the NP coupling to the electrode and the molecule, this observation is referred to the density of electronic states of the NPs, reflected in a broadening of the molecular electron/NP bridge group levels and energy-gap differences between the Fermi levels of the different metals.

Contrast in electron-transfer mediation between graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide

The properties of graphene oxide (GO) and DNA-stabilised reduced graphene-oxide (rGO) sheets as electron-transfer mediators in partially blocked electrodes are evaluated employing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Evidences obtained from UV/Vis, Raman and FTIR spectroscopies, as well as atomic force microscopy, confirm that the reduction of exfoliated GO single sheets by hydrazine yields partially reduced graphene oxide featuring a high defect density. Two-dimensional assemblies of GO and rGO were formed through electrostatic adsorption at Au electrodes, sequentially modified with 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) and poly-diallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC). The MUA:PDADMAC generates a strong blocking layer to the electron-transfer reaction involving the ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple. This blocking behaviour is not significantly affected upon adsorption of GO. However, adsorption of a sub-monolayer of rGO decreases the charge-transfer resistance by more than two orders of magnitude. Analysis of cyclic voltammograms and impedance spectra suggests that electron transfer in rGO assemblies is mediated by occupied states located just below the redox Fermi energy of the probe. These findings are discussed in the context of on-going controversies regarding the electrochemical reactivity of sp(2)-carbon basal planes.