Facile One-Step Fabrication of Phthalocyanine-Graphene-Bacterial-Cellulose Nanocomposite with Superior Catalytic Performance

Recent Advances in Phthalocyanine-Based Hybrid Composites for Electrochemical Biosensors

Biosensors are smart devices that convert biochemical responses to electrical signals. Designing biosensor devices with high sensitivity and selectivity is of great interest because of their wide range of functional operations. However, the major obstacles in the practical application of biosensors are their binding affinity toward biomolecules and the conversion and amplification of the interaction to various signals such as electrical, optical, gravimetric, and electrochemical signals. Additionally, the enhancement of sensitivity, limit of detection, time of response, reproducibility, and stability are considerable challenges when designing an efficient biosensor. In this regard, hybrid composites have high sensitivity, selectivity, thermal stability, and tunable electrical conductivities. The integration of phthalocyanines (Pcs) with conductive materials such as carbon nanomaterials or metal nanoparticles (MNPs) improves the electrochemical response, signal amplification, and stability of biosensors. This review explores recent advancements in hybrid Pcs for biomolecule detection. Herein, we discuss the synthetic strategies, material properties, working mechanisms, and integration methods for designing electrochemical biosensors. Finally, the challenges and future directions of hybrid Pc composites for biosensor applications are discussed.

Versatile Construction of Biomimetic Nanosensors for Electrochemical Monitoring of Intracellular Glutathione

The current strategies for nanoelectrode functionalization usually involve sophisticated modification procedures, uncontrollable and unstable modifier assembly, as well as a limited variety of modifiers. To address this issue, we propose a versatile strategy for large-scale synthesis of biomimetic molecular catalysts (BMCs) modified nanowires (NWs) to construct functionalized electrochemical nanosensors. This design protocol employs an easy, controllable and stable assembly of diverse BMCs-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) composites on conductive NWs. The intrinsic catalytic activity of BMCs combined with outstanding electron transfer ability of conductive polymer enables the nanosensors to sensitively and selectively detect various biomolecules. Further application of sulfonated cobalt phthalocyanine functionalized nanosensors achieves real-time electrochemical monitoring of intracellular glutathione levels and its redox homeostasis in single living cells for the first time.

Efficient Catalytic Degradation of Phenol with Phthalocyanine-Immobilized Reduced Graphene-Bacterial Cellulose Nanocomposite

In this report, phthalocyanine (Pc)/reduced graphene (rG)/bacterial cellulose (BC) ternary nanocomposite, Pc-rGBC, was developed through the immobilization of Pc onto a reduced graphene-bacterial cellulose (rGBC) nanohybrid after the reduction of biosynthesized graphene oxide-bacterial cellulose (GOBC) with N₂H₄. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were employed to monitor all of the functionalization processes. The Pc-rGBC nanocomposite was applied for the treatment of phenol wastewater. Thanks to the synergistic effect of BC and rG, Pc-rGBC had good adsorption capacity to phenol molecules, and the equilibrium adsorption data fitted well with the Freundlich model. When H₂O₂ was presented as an oxidant, phenol could rapidly be catalytically decomposed by the Pc-rGBC nanocomposite; the phenol degradation ratio was more than 90% within 90 min of catalytic oxidation, and the recycling experiment showed that the Pc-rGBC nanocomposite had excellent recycling performance in the consecutive treatment of phenol wastewater. The HPLC result showed that several organic acids, such as oxalic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, glutaric acid, and adipic acid, were formed during the reaction. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) result indicated that the formed organic acids could be further mineralized to CO₂ and H₂O, and the mineralization ratio was more than 80% when the catalytic reaction time was prolonged to 4 h. This work is of vital importance, in terms of both academic research and industrial practice, to the design of Pc-based functional materials and their application in environmental purification.