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Label-free electrochemical biosensors show great potential for the development of point-of-care devices (POCDs) for environmental and clinical applications. These sensors operate with shorter analysis times and are more economic than the labelled ones. Here, four completely label-free biosensors without electron transfer mediators were developed for hepatitis B virus (HBV) detection. The approach consisted in (i) the modification of gold surfaces with cysteamine (CT) or cysteine (CS) linkers, (ii) the subsequent antibody (Ab) immobilization, either directly by hydrogen bonding (HB) interactions or by covalent bonds (CB) using additional reagents, and (iii) measuring the biosensor response by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The electrode surfaces at each stage of the modification process were characterised by X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The combination of Ab immobilization by HB with the DPV analysis displayed improved repeatability, lower interference to serum matrix and similar limits of detection and quantification than the traditional biosensors that immobilize the Ab via CB and use EIS as readout technique. The Ab immobilization by HB is shown as a simple, efficient and low-cost alternative to CB ones, while DPV was faster and showed better performance than EIS. The CT-HB biosensor displayed the lowest limits of detection and quantification of 0.14 and 0.46 ng/mL, respectively, a 0.46-12.5 ng/mL linear analytical range, and 100% of recovery for 1/10 human serum media during HBV surface antigen detection by DPV. Even, it preserved the initial sensing capability after 7 days of its fabrication., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

A novel solid-phase microextraction fiber based on MXene-chitosan-polyurea (MXene/CS/EPPU) nanocomposite decorated on a graphenized pencil lead fiber (MXene/CS/EPPU/GPLF) was prepared and utilized for electro-enhanced solid-phase microextraction (EE-SPME) of diclofenac (DCF) in biological samples. After extraction and desorption of DCF, it was determined by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). For this purpose, the working electrode was prepared by deposition of the mentioned MXene/CS/EPPU nanocomposite onto the graphenized pencil lead. The synthesized SPME fiber was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. The effect of various parameters influencing the extraction and the desorption process were investigated, including applied voltage in the extraction and desorption steps, extraction and desorption times, and pH. The developed method exhibited a rather wide linearity in the range 2-1200 ng mL -1 (R 2  = 0.985) for the determination of DCF in plasma samples. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification for plasma samples were estimated to be 0.58 and 1.9 ng mL -1 based on the 3S b /m and 10S b /m definitions, respectively. The method's accuracy and applicability have been evaluated by the analysis of plasma samples, leading to the relative recoveries in the range 87.0% and 98.0% with the relative standard deviations lower than 3.1%., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

The development of an analytical method for assessing pungency intensity and determining geographical origins is crucial for evaluating the quality of visually similar Zanthoxylum bungeanum pericarp (PZB). This study analyzed 210 PZB samples from 14 origins across China, focusing on origin adulteration identification and pungency intensity using a combination of differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and machine learning algorithms. The artificial neural network (ANN) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithms provided the highest accuracy in origin identification (100 %) and adulteration detection (97.9 %) respectively. Moreover, the ANN excelled in predicting pungency intensity (R 2  = 0.918). Assessment via feature importance analysis of DPV features revealed that segments of polyphenols (0.34-0.52 V and 1.0-1.2 V) and alkylamides (1.0-1.2 V) contributed significantly to the PZB pungency intensity. These findings highlight the potential of DPV as a reliable method for assessing the quality of PZB, and offer a promising solution for ensuring the geographical authenticity of this important crop., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This article explores the application of chemometric tools including multivariate curve resolution with alternating least squares for the simultaneous determination of gallic and caffeic acids on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode without additional modification. Gallic and caffeic acids are primary polyphenols, the most abundant in red wines produced in Argentina, and are often used as quality markers for them. These polyphenols significantly contribute to the organoleptic properties of wines from this origin, but their electrochemical signals overlap significantly, making simultaneous quantification challenging without additional experiments such as electrode modification or alternative analytical techniques beyond differential pulse voltammetry. This study successfully quantified these compounds in complex mixtures by generating second-order data from differential pulse voltammetry experiments conducted at various potential steps and subsequently applying multivariate curve resolution with alternating least squares. The use of constraints during optimization prevented rotational ambiguities common in this modeling, leading to unique results in validation samples. The limits of detection (LOD) found for gallic and caffeic acids were 1.6 and 7.6 mg L -1 , which are in excellent agreement with the expected concentrations of these compounds in red wines. The concentration ranges analyzed showed a linear dependency (between the LOD and 300 mg L -1 ) with the signals estimated by the model for both analytes. Advantages such as simplicity, low cost, and high speed, as well as not requiring electrode modification, combined with excellent results obtained for real samples, make it a promising alternative for polyphenol analysis in the wine industry.

Objectives: Nivolumab is used in a treatment called immunotherapy, which helps the immune system cells to attack cancer cells. The electrochemical properties and quantification of this drug were performed using single-use pencil tips., Evidence Acquisition: Here, a selective voltammetric method for the determination and electrochemical characterization of Nivolumab used in cancer therapy was developed for the first time using a disposable pencil electrode by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry techniques. Nivolumab exhibited an anodic signal at +0.879 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in PBS (pH 3.0, 0.02 M NaCl) medium., Results: This procedure showed a linear response in phosphate buffer solutions (pH 3.0, 0.02 M NaCl) media within the concentration range of 0.01 mg mL -1 to 0.07 mg mL -1 and limit of detection and the limit of quantification values were determined to be 2.49 μg mL -1 and 8.30 μg mL -1 , respectively., Conclusions: The developed method offers an important analytical approach for the detection and characterization of NIVO. Precisely measuring and monitoring the levels of such drugs in real sample analyses or biological samples is critical for evaluating response to treatment, optimizing treatment strategies. Therefore, the method was applied to real sample analyses. Voltammetric results developed using PG electrode were compared with UV-Vis results. It has been determined that the results obtained are compatible with each other., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

Herein, an ultra-sonication technique followed by a photoreduction technique was implemented to prepare silver nanoparticle-decorated Chitosan/SrSnO 3 nanocomposites (Ag-decorated Chitosan/SrSnO 3 NCs), and they were successively used as electron-sensing substrates coated on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for the development of a 2,6-dinitrophenol (2,6-DNP) efficient electrochemical sensor. The synthesized NCs were characterized in terms of morphology, surface composition, and optical properties using FESEM, TEM, HRTEM, BET, XRD, XPS, FTIR, and UV-vis analysis. Ag-decorated Chitosan/SrSnO 3 NC/GCE fabricated with the conducting binder (PEDOT:PSS) was found to analyze 2,6-DNP in a wide detection range (LDR) of 1.5~13.5 µM by applying the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) approach. The 2,6-DNP sensor parameters, such as sensitivity (54.032 µA µM -1 cm -2 ), limit of detection (LOD; 0.18 ± 0.01 µM), limit of quantification (LOQ; 0.545 µM) reproducibility, and response time, were found excellent and good results. Additionally, various environmental samples were analyzed and obtained reliable analytical results. Thus, it is the simplest way to develop a sensor probe with newly developed nanocomposite materials for analyzing the carcinogenic contaminants from the environmental effluents by electrochemical approach for the safety of environmental and healthcare fields in a broad scale.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) rhizome is one of the most famous plants that has been widely used in food, medicine, and industry. Its quality deeply depends on the presence of curcuminoids and their ratios. As their structures are very similar to each other, this work reported simple, accurate, fast, and sensitive method based on developed ternary H-point standard for differential pulse voltammetry (t-HPSAM-DPV). For electrochemical determination of three analytes in the sample, three standards were added simultaneously. This method was developed for detection of three curcuminoids including curcumin (CU), desmethoxycurcumin (DMC), and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) in real samples. The precision of method has RSD% < 5.5 % and the accuracy of proposed method has relative error lower than 7.0 %. Also, intra and inter-day precisions have provided the mean RSD% < 4.50. The LOD values were obtained for CU, DMC and BDMC are 0.6 × 10 -6 , 0.57 × 10 -6 and 0.42 × 10 -6 , respectively. Compared with other reported HPLC methods, the results revealed a reasonable accurate precision for proposed method. Under optimized experimental conditions, t-HPSMA significantly resolved overlapping of DPV peaks of CU, DMC, and BDMC. This method can be successfully used for ternary analysis of analytes using one standard addition to the real samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A novel voltammetric screening method has been developed for the rapid determination of fipronil (FPN) residues in lactose-free milk samples with the use of a carbon-paste electrode (CPE) by differential-pulse voltammetry (DPV). Cyclic voltammetry indicated the occurrence of an irreversible anodic process at approximately +0.700 V ( vs. Ag|AgCl, 3.0 mol L -1 KCl) in a 0.100 mol L -1 NaOH supporting electrolyte prepared as a 30% (v/v) ethanol-water solution. Quantification of FPN was carried out by DPV and analytical curves were constructed. In the absence of a matrix, the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 0.568 mg L -1 and 1.89 mg L -1 , respectively. In the presence of a lactose-free skim milk matrix, the values of LOD and LOQ were 0.331 mg L -1 and 1.10 mg L -1 . The recovery percentages for three different concentrations of FPN in lactose-free skim milk samples ranged between 95.3% and 109%. All assays could be conducted with milk samples without any prior extraction steps or pre-concentration of FPN, making this novel method rapid, simple, and relatively cheap.

Herein, the detection of aspartic acid by doped Co 3 O 4 -ZnO nanorod materials was proposed using differential pulse voltammetry. The nano-composite metal oxide was synthesized by the wet precipitation method in basic media. Aspartic acid is a non-essential amino acid naturally synthesized in the body with lot of health significance, including as a biomarker for several health deficiencies. The synthesized composite Co 3 O 4 -ZnO nanorod was well-investigated by using FESEM, XRD, XPS, FTIR, UV/vis., EIS, and CV. The synthesized composite exhibited a low limit of detection (0.03 µM, high sensitivity (0.0014 µA µM -1 cm -2 ) and wide linear range (0.05-50 µM) for aspartic acid. The substrate, the Co 3 O 4 -ZnO nanorod, enhanced the electro-catalytic oxidation of aspartic acid as a result of its catalytic and conductivity properties. The developed sensor based on Co 3 O 4 -ZnO has a repeatable, reproducible and stable current response for aspartic acid. Additionally, other electroactive compounds did not interfere with the sensor's current response. The suitability of the developed sensor for real sample analysis was also established. Therefore, this study proposed the potential use of Co 3 O 4 -ZnO nanorod material in healthcare management for the maintenance of human well-being.

Surface water contamination of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) has tremendously affected the ecosystem. A primary study was performed to develop an electrochemical sensor for the determination of SMX. Overcoming the demerit associated with the conventional techniques, an electrochemical method was developed using GO/ZnO nanocomposite modified electrode to detect SMX in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH-5.5) buffer solution. The GO, ZnO and GO/ZnO nanocomposite were prepared using modified Hummer's, precipitation and sonochemical methods, respectively. Physico-chemical properties of all the materials and its modified electrode were analysed. Comparison was made by studying the SMX sensing performance of electrodes modified with GO, ZnO and GO/ZnO nanocomposites. Out of which GO/ZnO nanocomposite exhibited excellent sensing performance with the concentration range from 0.10 × 10 -6 to 1.5 × 10 -6  M with the limit of detection (LOD) 28.9 nM. The parameters such as electrolyte, effect of pH, scan rate were optimized for effective sensing performance. From the optimized results 0.1 M phosphate buffer was found to be a suitable electrolyte and the pH 5.5 was found to be appropriate to sense SMX at the scan rate 50 mVs -1 . Under optimized condition, the Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV) and Amperometry techniques were adopted for electrochemical sensing of SMX under static and hydrodynamic condition. The developed method was successfully tested for real time analysis for the samples collected from waste water treatment plant., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the present article, the disulfide tungsten/activated carbon derived from Eichhornia crassipes (WS 2 /AC) was synthesized by the hydrothermal process. The received materials were examined by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray - mapping, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The morphology of WS 2 /AC was tailored to have a micro/meso/macro structure that facilized large electric conductivity and quick ion diffusion. The WS 2 /AC sample was used as an electrode modifier for developing an electrochemical sensor for salbutamol detection. WS 2 /AC exhibited excellent oxidation toward salbutamol. Through some optimized conditions, the electrochemical signal of the proposed sensor varied linearly to the salbutamol concentration ranging from 1 to 210 μM with a low LOD (detection limit) of 0.52 μM. The developed sensor showed several merits: easy producing, convenient usage, fabulous selectivity, and good repeatability as well as reproducibility. Finally, the suggested technique can be applied to determine salbutamol in people's biological fluid with satisfactory recoveries of 98.5-104.4% and without statistics different from standard HPLC., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A simple, highly sensitive, accurate, and low-cost electrochemical sensor was developed for the determination of over-the-counter painkiller, paracetamol (PC). The enhanced sensing capabilities of the developed sensor were fabricated by the single-step modification of disposable pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs) with the simultaneous electrochemical reduction in graphene oxide and antimony (II) salts. For this purpose, an electrochemically reduced graphene oxide-antimony nanoparticle (ERGO-SbNP) nanocomposite material was prepared by trapping metallic nanoparticles between individual graphene sheets in the modification of PGEs. Structural characterization by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy was employed to confirm the presence of oxygen functional groups and defects in the conjugated carbon-based structure of GO. Morphological differences between the modified PGEs were confirmed by HRTEM and HRSEM for the presence of nanoparticles. The modified electrodes were further electrochemically characterized using CV and EIS. The electrooxidation of PC on an ERGO-SbNPs-PGE was achieved by adsorptive stripping differential pulse voltametric analysis in 0.1 mol·L -1 phosphate buffer solution at pH = 7.0. The optimum current response was used to record a detection limit of 0.057 µmol·L -1 for PC. The electrochemical sensor was further used in real sample analysis for a commercially available pharmaceutical tablet (500 mg PC), for which the percentage recovery was between 99.4% and 100.8%.

Quantification of leuco-indigo is most important for Aizome, Japanese indigo-dyeing; however, there has been no convenient quantitative method. This study demonstrated that normal pulse voltammetry under quiescent conditions can be used to detect leuco-indigo. As a result of quantification of leuco-indigo in the depth direction in fermenting suspensions, the steady-state concentrations of leuco-indigo showed sigmoidal profiles in the depth direction. The steady state is caused by competitive reactions of microbial reduction of indigo and autoxidation of leuco-indigo by O 2 dissolved from the air interface of the suspension. In addition, we investigated the effects of stirring the suspension and adding some nutrients to the concentration profile. The weakened activity was partially recovered by the addition of ethanol and remarkably recovered by the addition of hipolypepton or glucose. Knowledge is essential for the proper management of indigo-dye-fermenting suspensions., (Copyright © 2022 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Over the years, electrochemical sensors have achieved high levels of sensitivity due to advancements in electrical circuits and systems, and calibration standards. However, little has been explored towards developing ways to minimize random errors and improve the precision of electrochemical sensors. In this work, a novel electrochemical method derived from differential pulse voltammetry termed multi-set differential pulse voltammetry (MS-DPV) is proposed with the goal of reducing random errors in chemical- and bio-sensors and thereby improve precision. The proposed MS-DPV improves precision without the need to replicate measurements. Therefore, saving energy use, time consumed, and/or materials required. The method is especially suited for portable or in-field sensing solutions that have strict constraints on sampling, time and energy use. To realize the proposed method, a custom designed plug-and-play-type electrochemical sensing system was employed which was then used for detecting salicylic acid (SA). SA is a key phytohormone deployed during defense responses in plants against biotic stresses. Additionally, SA is widely used in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry due to its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Using a "4-set-DPV", an error reduction of up to 12% was observed in SA detection when compared to conventional differential pulse voltammetry. In general, the error variance reduces linearly with the number of readings taken in a single scan of the proposed MS-DPV., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

For the rapid and sensitive detection of vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF 165 ) in clinical blood samples, a microfluidic sensing chip that integrates a centrifugal separation pretreatment unit and a composite nanosensing film was proposed in this paper. An efficient sensing strategy and method was established. The blood sample was first separated and extracted by centrifugal force on the centrifugal microfluidic chip within 5 min after injection. The separated plasma can be automatically transferred through the designed microchannels to the detection area integrated electrodes for subsequent differential pulse voltammetric detection. The Au NPs/MCH/Apt2 sensing film was constructed on the surface of the Au working electrode. A sandwich sensing strategy based on "double aptamers" and "nanoprobe" for VEGF 165 detection was established, by which the synthetic Apt1/PThi/Au NP nanoprobe was applied to capture VEGF 165 in plasma and bind to the sensing film. By this method, the detection limit of VEGF 165 in whole blood was 0.67 pg/mL and the linear range was between 1 pg and 10 ng, which met the needs of clinical VEGF 165 detection. It was illustrated that the proposed methodology based on the centrifugal microfluidic chip had potential application prospects in the development of the point-of-care testing fields.

The preparation of gold nanoparticles-reduced graphene oxide-based sensor materials for the determination of zinc(II)dimethyldithiocarbamate (ziram) is described in this paper. The graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized using a modified Hummer's method. A composite sensor consisting of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was electrochemically fabricated on a glassy carbon electrode. The nanocomposite was evaluated utilizing scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cyclic voltammetry was used to illuminate the modified sensor's electrochemical properties at each stage of the modification. The suggested sensor was demonstrated good analytical performance to determine ziram pesticide in water and peach juice, including a very low detection limit, a large linear range, and a low RSD.

The main goal of the presented study was to design a biosensor-based system for epinephrine (EP) detection using a poly-thiophene derivative and tyrosinase as a biorecognition element. We compared two different electroanalytical techniques to select the most prominent technique for analyzing the neurotransmitter. The prepared biosensor system exhibited good parameters; the differential pulse (DPV) technique presented a wide linear range (1-20 μM and 30-200 μM), with a low detection limit (0.18 nM and 1.03 nM). In the case of chronoamperometry (CA), a high signal-to-noise ratio and lower reproducibility were observed, causing a less broad linear range (10-200 μM) and a higher detection limit (125 nM). Therefore, the DPV technique was used for the calculation of sensitivity (0.0011 μA mM -1 cm -2 ), stability (49 days), and total surface coverage (4.18 × 10 -12 mol cm -2 ). The biosensor also showed very high selectivity in the presence of common interfering species ( i.e. ascorbic acid, uric acid, norepinephrine, dopamine) and was successfully applied for EP determination in a pharmaceutical sample., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The content of amino acids in human body is closely related to human health and plays an important role in physiological regulation and medical function. In order to recognize a variety of amino acids, an electrochemical sensor array based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) electrode was established by using two kinds of electropolymerizers, i.e., citrate and the mixture of citrate and potassium nitrate as sensing elements. Different electropolymerizers lead result in different amount of negative charge on PEDOT electrode, which leads to different adsorption capacity for positive charge amino acids and different repulsion capacity for negative charge amino acids, bringing about obvious changes in differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) current. The five amino acids were accurately identified by linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and the electrochemical sensor array was successfully applied in the differential detection of amino acids in milk., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Here, a sensitive voltametric electrochemical sensor probe was fabricated to reliably trace the detection of L-aspartic acid in phosphate-buffered medium using a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) layered with a film of wet-chemically prepared Ag 2 O-doped ZnO nanosheets (NSs). EDS, FESEM, XPS, and X-ray diffraction analyses were implemented as characterizing tools of prepared NSs to confirm the structural and compositional morphology, binding energies of existing atoms, and the crystallinity of synthesized NSs. The differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was applied to the trace detection of L-aspartic acid, and exhibited a wide detection range of 15.0~105.0 µM, a limit of detection (3.5 ± 0.15 µM), and good sensitivity (0.2689 µA µM -1 cm -2 ). Besides these the precious reproducibility, stability, and efficient responses were perceived from the voltametric analysis of aspartic acid. Moreover, the proposed aspartic acid was subjected to experiments to potentially detect aspartic acid in real biological samples. Therefore, the development of an enzyme-free sensor by applying this method will be a smart technical approach in the near future.

Self-assembly of AgPF 6 with a pair of chiral tridentate ligands (1 S ,1' S ,1'' S ,2 R ,2' R ,2'' R ) and (1 R ,1' R ,1'' R ,2 S ,2' S ,2'' S )-(benzenetricarbonyltris(azanediyl))tris(2,3-dihydro-1 H -indene-2,1-diyl)triisonicotinate ( s , r -L) and ( r , s -L) in a mixture of methanol and dioxane yields 2D sheets consisting of [Ag( s , r -L)](PF 6 )·3C 4 H 8 O 2 ·0.5H 2 O and [Ag( r , s -L)](PF 6 )·3C 4 H 8 O 2 ·0.5H 2 O, respectively. The differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) technique using the pair of chiral 2D-sheet enantiomers was employed for chiral discrimination of amino acid enantiomers, and was found to be an effective tool for enantio-recognition of L- and D-histidines. Both the size and the binding site of amino acids were strongly dependent on electrochemical enantio-recognition via the chiral 2D sheets.

A procedure for the electroanalytical determination of uranyl ions pre-concentrated from natural water by cloud point extraction (CPE) is developed in this study. CPE parameters, such as surfactant concentration, extractant concentration, pH and additive concentration were optimized. After CPE, the solution was diluted for electrochemical determination by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) with a mercury film electrode (Hg-GCE). The current response of uranyl showed a linear relationship with concentration from 10 nmol L -1 to 1 μmol L -1 . The hyphenated method combining CPE and DPV achieved a detection limit of uranyl as low as 0.15 nmol L -1 . The presence of some foreign ions interfered greatly with the current response of electrochemical detection. Therefore, the hyphenated technique combining CPE and DPV is important because the CPE step provides selectivity against the co-existing metal ions for electrochemical detection. No interference was seen from the representative foreign metal ions in the CPE-DPV method. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of uranyl ions in natural water. The average recovery using CPE-DPV in real samples varied from 94.4% to 103.2% and the precision was comparable with that of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), indicating the good accuracy and precision of the method developed. This hyphenated technique could have greater potential applications for the determination of uranyl ions in aqueous environments.

In this work, the bio sorption of mercury ion by garlic bio-adsorbent was studied. A batch and a continuous up-flow fixed-bed column system were used in this report. Differential pulse voltammetry was used to detecting the amount of mercury ion. Using Differential pulse voltammetry prevents the production of carcinogenic mercury vapor. In the batch system, various doses of bio-adsorbent were investigated. After that, the experimental data was fitted using Langmuir and Freundlich models. The experimental data were also fitted to the Thomas, Bohart-Adams, and Yan models for the continuous mode in a fixed bed of garlic bio-adsorbent. The maximum adsorption capacity estimated by the Thomas models was 23.5 mg g -1 and τ was 135.3 min. This adsorbent is also suitable for absorbing mercury from a real-life well water sample. It is renewable and can be used to absorb mercury several times., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A promising electrochemical strategy for assay of N6-methyladenosine (m6A)/N6-methyladenine (6mA) in RNA/DNA is proposed. The key of this strategy is the end-labeling of nucleic acid, which makes it possible to detect methylation level in unknown sequence. Firstly, the end of m6A-RNA or 6mA-DNA was labeled with sulfhydryl group through T4 polynucleotide kinase (T4 PNK) and then directly assembled on a gold nanoparticle-modified glassy carbon electrode (AuNPs/GCE). Secondly, methylation sites in RNA/DNA were specifically recognized by anti-m6A-antibody, and then, horseradish peroxidase-labeled goat anti-rabbit IgG (HRP-IgG) was further conjugated on the antibody. Thirdly, HRP-IgG catalyzed the hydroquinone oxidation reaction to generate amplified current signal which correlates with the amount of m6A/6mA in nucleic acid. This method showed a wide linear range from 0.0001 to 10 nM for m6A-RNA, 0.001 to 100 nM for 6mA-dsDNA, and 0.0001 to 10 nM for 6mA-ssDNA. The method was successfully applied to detection of m6A/6mA in RNA/DNA from HeLa cells and E. coli cells and validation of the decrease of m6A-RNA in HeLa cells after treatment with FTO protein., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

In this investigation, a melamine electrochemical sensor has been developed by using wet-chemically synthesized low-dimensional aggregated nanoparticles (NPs) of ZnO-doped Co 3 O 4 as sensing substrate that were decorated onto flat glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The characterization of NPs such as UV-Vis, FTIR, XRD, XPS, EDS, and FESEM was done for detailed investigations in optical, functional, structural, elemental, and morphological analyses. The ZnO-doped Co 3 O 4 NPs decorated GCE was used as a sensing probe to analyze the target chemical melamine in a phosphate buffer at pH 5.7 by applying differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). It exhibited good performances in terms of sensor analytical parameters such as large linear dynamic range (LDR; 0.15-1.35 mM) of melamine detection, high sensitivity (80.6 μA mM -1  cm -2 ), low limit of detection (LOD; 0.118±0.005 mM), low limit of quantification (LOQ; 0.393 mM), and fast response time (30 s). Besides this, the good reproducibility (in several hours) and repeatability were investigated under identical conditions. Moreover, it was implemented to measure the long-time stability, electron mobility, less charge-transfer resistance, and analyzed diffusion-controlled process for the oxidation reaction of the NPs assembled working GCE electrode, which showed outstanding chemical sensor performances. For validation, real environmental samples were collected from various water sources and investigated successfully with regard to the reliability of the selective melamine detection with prepared NPs coated sensor probe. Therefore, this approach might be introduced as an alternative route in the sensor technology to detect selectively unsafe chemicals by an electrochemical method with nanostructure-doped materials for the safety of environmental, ecological, healthcare fields in a broad scale., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The specific detection of resorcin from its isomers is a current research hotspot. Thus in our work, a ternary hierarchical porous nanoprobe has been constructed based on the combination of cuttlefish ink and bimetallic Au@Ag nanoclusters for the specific sensing of resorcin. Briefly, through electrostatic interaction, Au@Ag core-shell nanoclusters are immobilized on the surface of polydopamine extracted from cuttlefish, which is turned into nitrogen-doped porous carbon functionalized by bimetallic Au@Ag by topological transformation subsequently. Afterward, an electrochemical sensor is fabricated based on the nanoprobes for specifically determining resorcin in solution by differential pulse voltammetry, and the linear detection ranges of the sensor are 1-100 μM and 1.2-4 mM while the detection limit reaches 0.06 μM. Meanwhile, the sensing mechanism of resorcin by the pre-fabricated sensor is detailedly studied by density functional theory to obtain a clear electrochemical process. Besides, the selectivity, stability, plus reproducibility of the pre-fabricated sensor have been also tested, and the determinations for resorcin in real environmental water samples have also been performed with good recoveries, revealing the auspicious application potential in the environmental monitoring., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A 2D/2D NiCo-MOF/Ti 3 C 2 heterojunction is constructed as a non-enzymatic biosensor for the simultaneous electrochemical detection of acetaminophen (AP), dopamine (DA), and uric acid (UA) via differential pulse voltammetry. Benefiting from the synergistic effects of the high electrocatalytic activity of NiCo-MOF, the outstanding conductivity of Ti 3 C 2 , and the improved specific surface area of NiCo-MOF/Ti 3 C 2 , NiCo-MOF/Ti 3 C 2 displays high sensing performance toward AP (0.01-400 μM), DA (0.01-300 μM), and UA (0.01-350 μM) in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (PB, pH 7.4) at working potentials of 0.346 V vs. SCE for AP, 0.138 V vs. SCE for DA, and 0.266 V vs. SCE for UA. Furthermore, the well-separated oxidation peak potentials allow for the simultaneous detection of the analytes, with detection limits of 0.008, 0.004, and 0.006 μM (S/N = 3), respectively. As a result of its considerable reproducibility and anti-interference and anti-fouling properties, NiCo-MOF/Ti 3 C 2 was also developed into a practical sensing platform to detect AP, DA, and UA in serum and urine, presenting excellent recoveries of 98.1-102.2 %.

A new methodology to determine directly the fungicide boscalid (BSC) was developed and successfully applied in red grape 100% juice, peel extracts, pulp and purple grape seeds ( Vitis labrusca L.) with a working carbon paste electrode (CPE) without sample preparation. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) indicated the presence of an irreversible cathodic process of BSC at -1.21 V vs. Ag|AgCl (KCl 3.0 mol L -1 ) in a solution of 0.100 mol L -1 HCl/acetone 70 : 30 (v/v). This behavior was also observed using Square Wave Voltammetry (SWV). The Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV) technique proved to be more sensitive and with higher selectivity for BSC quantification. The influence of pH on the reduction of BSC was investigated in Britton-Robinson Buffer (BRB), 0.01 mol L -1 (pH 2.00-12.00). The limit of detection (LOD) values obtained from calibration curves for different samples were as follows: 0.107 mg L -1 for deionized water; 0.146 mg L -1 for red grape 100% juice; 0.922 mg kg -1 for peel extracts; 0.818 mg kg -1 for grape pulp and 0.691 mg kg -1 for grape seeds. The corresponding Limit of Quantification (LOQ) values for the same samples were as follows: 0.358 mg L -1 ; 0.486 mg L -1 ; 2.87 mg kg -1 ; 2.73 mg kg -1 and 2.51 mg kg -1 , respectively. In addition, the recovery rates for the different concentration levels in the investigated range varied between 97.13 and 103.4%. All tests performed with the samples did not require extraction or pre-concentration steps of BSC, resulting in a fast, simple and cheap methodology.

Many voltammetry methods have been developed to monitor brain extracellular dopamine levels. Fewer approaches have been successful in detecting serotonin in vivo. No voltammetric techniques are currently available to monitor both neurotransmitters simultaneously across timescales, even though they play integrated roles in modulating behavior. We provide proof-of-concept for rapid pulse voltammetry coupled with partial least squares regression (RPV-PLSR), an approach adapted from multi-electrode systems (i.e., electronic tongues) used to identify multiple components in complex environments. We exploited small differences in analyte redox profiles to select pulse steps for RPV waveforms. Using an intentionally designed pulse strategy combined with custom instrumentation and analysis software, we monitored basal and stimulated levels of dopamine and serotonin. In addition to faradaic currents, capacitive currents were important factors in analyte identification arguing against background subtraction. Compared to fast-scan cyclic voltammetry-principal components regression (FSCV-PCR), RPV-PLSR better differentiated and quantified basal and stimulated dopamine and serotonin associated with striatal recording electrode position, optical stimulation frequency, and serotonin reuptake inhibition. The RPV-PLSR approach can be generalized to other electrochemically active neurotransmitters and provides a feedback pipeline for future optimization of multi-analyte, fit-for-purpose waveforms and machine learning approaches to data analysis., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

In this work, a sensitive and efficient voltammetric biosensor was introduced for differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) determination of some phthalic acid esters (PAEs) including dibutyl phthalate (DBP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP) in aqueous solutions. Briefly, the surface of a copper electrode was modified by azolla paste prepared using azolla powder and electroencephalography gel (EEG). The modified surface was characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) methods. Determination of PAEs was conducted based on their blocking effect on the electrode surface for ferrous ion oxidation. The central composite design (CCD) was conducted to optimize the effects of four experimental parameters including the concentration of Fe 2+ ions ( C Fe 2+ ) and supporting electrolyte ( C sup. elec ), solution pH and modifier/gel mass ratio on the decrease in the anodic peak current of ferrous ions as the response. Predicted optimal conditions ( C Fe 2+ = 319 μM, C sup. elec = 0.125 M, pH = 7.52 and modifier/gel mass ratio = 0.19) were validated by experimental checking which resulted in an error of 1.453%. At the optimum conditions, linear relationships were found between the DPV responses and PAEs concentrations and the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values were in the ranges of 0.2-0.4 μg L -1 and 0.5-1.0 μg L -1 , respectively. Good recovery percentages ranging from 97.3 to 100.3% with RSD < 3.2% suggested the proposed method for efficient, accurate and quick determination of PAEs in real water samples., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

For the first time CoS-nanoparticles attached ZnS rods (CoS/ZnS composites) have been synthesized using cobalt(II)-ion-exchanged zinc-based biological metal-organic framework-1 (Zn-bio-MOF-1) as precursors by a solvothermal method. Among them, the cobalt(II)-ion-exchanged Zn-bio-MOF-1 was obtained by exchanging the dimethylammonium cations (Me 2 NH 2 ) of Zn-bio-MOF-1 with cobalt ions. A novel electrochemical sensor based on CoS/ZnS composites and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was proposed for rapid, sensitive, and highly selective detection of organochlorine pesticide chloroneb. The MIP film was obtained by cyclic voltammetry (CV), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used to detect chloroneb. Under the optimal conditions, the oxidation peak current density of chloroneb was linearly related to the concentration from 0.003 to 0.2 μM and 0.2 to 3.2 μM with a detection limit of 0.87 nM (S/N = 3) and a sensitivity of 52.27 μA·μM + ) of Zn-bio-MOF-1 with cobalt ions. A novel electrochemical sensor based on CoS/ZnS composites and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was proposed for rapid, sensitive, and highly selective detection of organochlorine pesticide chloroneb. The MIP film was obtained by cyclic voltammetry (CV), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used to detect chloroneb. Under the optimal conditions, the oxidation peak current density of chloroneb was linearly related to the concentration from 0.003 to 0.2 μM and 0.2 to 3.2 μM with a detection limit of 0.87 nM (S/N = 3) and a sensitivity of 52.27 μA·μM -1 ·cm -2 . The proposed sensor exhibits a favorable selectivity, stability, and reproducibility, and was applied to detect chloroneb residues in licorice, cucumber, river water, and soil samples with satisfactory results.Graphical abstract.

Lithium cobalt phosphate (LCP) was prepared and modified on the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to fabricate the electrochemical sensor (LCP/GCE) for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA), and serum uric acid (UA). The homogenous incorporation of carbon improved the conductivity of LCP. Benefiting from the small particle size distribution, LCP/GCE has a large active surface and responds to AA, DA, and UA sensitively and rapidly. For the simultaneous detection with differential pulse voltammetry the anodic peaks of AA, DA, and UA were well-separated and appeared at ~0 V, ~0.19 V, and ~ 0.33 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), respectively. The linear responses toward AA, DA, and UA were in the range 10 μM-8.0 mM, 10 nM-10 μM, and 0.020 μM-25 μM; the detection limits were estimated to be 8.10 μM, 7.50 nM, and 22.7 nM (S/N = 3), respectively. The excellent selectivity and reproducibility of LCP/GCE enable serum UA to be detected without the interference of AA and DA. The recoveries of DA and AA in the serum sample were in the range 95 to 111%. The results indicate that LCP has the potential to be developed as the sensing devices to be applied to in vitro diagnosis. The lithium-ion battery cathodic material, LCP with the excellent adsorption and catalytic behavior, was utilized to fabricate the electrochemical sensor for the sensitive and simultaneous detection of AA, DA, and UA, which achieved the low detection limits and the wide concentration ranges. LCP/GCE can be used for the quantitative detection of serum UA without the interference of DA and AA. In addition, the recoveries of DA and AA in human serum were satisfactory, which illustrate the reliability of LCP/GCE to be applied to in vitro diagnosis.

The triclosan contamination in daily life has attracted great attention, and there is rare electroanalytical assay based on π-system dyes. In this work, a facile preparation and electroanalytical application of an organic dispersion containing bacteriochlorin dyes (LS11) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was proposed. The organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposites were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) showing a core-shell structure with a uniform layer of dye molecules. The as-prepared nanocomposites were successfully coated onto glassy carbon electrodes, and the surface characteristics of the top most layer of the modified electrodes were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and water contact angle experiments. The nanocomposite film-modified electrodes exhibited good electrochemical activity towards oxidation of triclosan. The oxidation of adsorbed triclosan occurred at a reduced overpotential, and the anodic current responses under a pre-concentration step prior to the potential scan were used for quantitative analysis. A good linear relationship from 0.01 μM to 0.5 μM was obtained using differential pulse voltammetry. The sensitivity and detection limit (S/N = 3) were 23.69 μA μM -1 and 0.03 μM, respectively. The proposed assay was applied to detect triclosan in two personal hygiene products using standard addition method, and the results showed good recoveries that ranged from 96.6% to 101.5% and from 99.3% to 103.8% for a toothpaste sample and a hand wash sample, respectively. A reference HPLC-UV method was used to evaluate the proposed electroanalytical method, and a good agreement was achieved., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Nitric oxide (NO) is an omnipresent signalling molecule in all vertebrates. NO modulates blood flow and neural activity. Nitrite anion is one of the most important sources of NO. Nitrite is reduced to NO by various physiological mechanisms including reduction by hemoglobin in vascular system. In this study, nitrite reductase activity (NRA) of hemoglobin is reported using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in a wide potential window from +0.3 V to -1.3 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). To the best of our knowledge, a detailed look into NRA of hemoglobin is proposed here for the first time. Our results indicated two different regimes for reduction of nitrite by hemoglobin in its Fe(II) and Fe(I) states. Both reactions showed a reversible behaviour in the time scale of the experiments. The first reduction displayed a normal redox behaviour, while the latter one had the characteristics of a catalytic electro-reduction/oxidation. The reduction in Fe(II) state was selected as a tool for comparing the NRA of hemoglobin (Hb) and hemoglobin-S (Hb-S) under native-like conditions in a didodecyldimethyl ammonium bromide (DDAB) liquid crystal film. These investigations lay the prospects and guidelines for understanding the direct electrochemistry of hemoglobin utilizing a simplified mediator-free platform., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cortisol is commonly used as a significant biomarker of psychological or physical stress. With the accelerated pace of life, non-invasive cortisol detection at the point of care (POC) is in high demand for personal health monitoring. In this paper, an ultrasensitive immunosensor using gold nanoparticles/molybdenum disulfide/gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/MoS 2 /AuNPs) as transducer was explored for non-invasive salivary cortisol monitoring at POC with the miniaturized differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) system based on a smartphone. Covalent binding of cortisol antibody (CORT-Ab) onto the AuNPs/MoS 2 /AuNPs transducer was achieved through the self-assembled monolayer of specially designed polyethylene glycol (PEG, SH-PEG-COOH). Non-specific binding was avoided by passivating the surface with ethanolamine. The miniaturized portable DPV system was utilized for human salivary cortisol detection. A series current response of different cortisol concentrations decreased and exhibited a linear range of 0.5-200 nM, the detection limit of 0.11 nM, and high sensitivity of 30 μA M -1 with a regression coefficient of 0.9947. Cortisol was also distinguished successfully from the other substances in saliva. The recovery ratio of spiked human salivary cortisol and the variation of salivary cortisol level during one day indicated the practicability of the immunosensor based on the portable system. The results demonstrated the excellent performance of the smartphone-based immunosensor system and its great potential application for non-invasive human salivary cortisol detection at POC.

In this work, a wild-type T4 bacteriophage based micro electrochemical sensor (T4B-MES) was developed for specific and sensitive detection of viable pathogenic bacteria. Recently, bacteriophage has been widely applied as recognition elements for bacteria detection due to its low cost, high stability and specificity. Firstly, a systematic study was proposed in this paper to investigate the synergy of externally applied electric field and chemical functionalization on phage immobilization, involving several key factors such as Debye length. According to our experiments, the capture efficiency of the deposited phages had reached the maximum when the Debye length was comparable to the phage size. With the optimized immobilization protocol, the sensitivity of the T4B-MES was then determined with Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV), providing a quite low detection limit of 14 ± 5 cfu/mL and a wide dynamic range of 1.9 × 10 1 -1.9 × 10 8  cfu/mL. In addition, the T4B-MES demonstrated the ability to distinguish viable and dead bacteria cells with high specificity, making it a promising solution in a variety of applications, e.g., water quality monitoring., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this paper, a fast method for the detection of irinotecan (CPT-11) in plasma samples was investigated. CPT-11 is widely used in a number of chemotherapeutic treatments of several solid tumors. The method is based on the combination of a solid phase extraction and an electrochemical detection step. The extraction of CPT-11 from plasma was performed using solid phase extraction (SPE) columns and acetonitrile as eluent. The procedure included also a cleaning step to eliminate interference due to plasma endogenous compounds and the co-therapeutics 5-fluoroacil (5-FU) and folinic acid (FA). The latter are administered together with CPT-11 in the FOLFIRI regimen. The detection of CPT-11 was performed by differential pulse voltammetry at a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in basified acetonitrile media. Under these conditions, a well-defined peak due to the oxidation of the tertiary ammine end of CPT-11, also free from interference due to main metabolites, was obtained. Calibration plots showed a good linear response with limit of detection and quantification of 1.10 × 10 -7 and 3.74 × 10 -7  M, respectively. The suitability of the method proposed here for clinical applications was verified by determining the concentration of CPT-11 in plasma samples of an oncological patient, collected after 30 and 180 min from the infusion of the drug. Graphical abstract.

This work presents the development, validation and application of three simple and direct analytical methods for determination of posaconazole (PSZ) in its pure form and in suspension dosage form. Method I is based on high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) where effective separation of PSZ and the internal standard (itraconazole) was achieved using Merck HPTLC plates (20×10cm aluminium plates with 250μm layer thickness precoated with silicagel 60 F 254 ) and a mobile phase composed of acetone and chloroform (1:2, by volume), followed by densitometric measurement of the drugs' spots at 262nm. Method II involves measurement of the native fluorescence of PSZ in 0.1M H 2 SO 4 at excitation and emission wavelengths of 260 and 365nm, respectively. Method III depends on the voltammetric analysis of PSZ. A well-defined cathodic wave was obtained for PSZ in Britton-Robinson buffer pH 6.5 using the differential-pulse mode at the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). The developed methods were validated according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines regarding linearity, ranges, accuracy, precision, robustness and limits of detection and quantification. The proposed methods showed good linearity over the concentration ranges 5-50, 0.05-0.3, 0.005-0.05μg/mL PSZ for methods I, II, and III respectively. Intra and inter-day precision were verified by the RSD% values which were less than 2%. The proposed methods were successfully applied for the quantification of PSZ in suspension dosage form with no observable interferences. Assay methods were favorably compared with those obtained by previously reported HPLC method., (Copyright © 2019 Académie Nationale de Pharmacie. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Xanthine oxidase (XO) catalyzes the oxidation of xanthine to uric acid. Over-production of uric acid is a risk factor for hyperuricemia and other diseases. Although allopurinol decreases uric acid levels, it causes severe adverse effects. Therefore, more effort is needed in finding novel XO inhibitors with fewer side effects. In this study, differential pulse voltammetry was used to investigate the inhibitory effect of thymoquinone (TQ) on the XO activity while the major problem was the overlap of the obtained signals. Thus, Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC) was applied to extract the useful information. Also, docking was used to investigate how TQ and the active site of XO fit together. PARAFAC results based on the voltammetry studies revealed that TQ blocks the catalytic centers of XO, which leads to a decrease in the electrochemical signal of Mo center in XO. The results also indicated the dose-dependent inhibition of XO with TQ. Molecular docking studies were shown TQ surrounds the active sites of XO and reduces the oxidation of xanthine to uric acid. Therefore, the electrochemical response of Mo decreases in the presence of TQ. This finding is in good agreement with the results obtained from molecular docking studies., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

N-acetylcysteine (N-AC) has widespread application such as pharmaceutical drug and nutritional supplement. Its adverse effects are rash, urticaria, and itchiness and large doses of N-AC could potentially cause damage to the heart and lungs. Therefore, in this work, a sensitive voltammetric sensor based on a carbon paste electrode modified with silica nano particles (i.e. Mobil Composition of Matter (No. 41) modified with Boron Trifluoride or BF 3 @MCM-41) with a combination of 4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl (DHB) (BF 3 @MCM-41/DHB/CPE) was designed for determination of N-AC. The electrochemical oxidation of N-AC was examined using various techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Under the optimum conditions, some parameters such as electron transfer coefficient (α) and heterogeneous rate constant (k s ) were estimated for N-AC. Due to the use of N-AC for the treatment of acetaminophen (AC) overdose, the application of modified electrode was investigated for the simultaneous determination of N-AC and AC in blood serum and tablet samples. Since, the signals of these species overlap and due to the presence of interfering species in blood samples, the simultaneous determination of mentioned species is difficult or impossible. To overcome this challenge, parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) was used for the analysis of the complex matrices to obtain the spectral profile of each component and interference. To achieve this goal, electrochemical second-order data were generated using a simple change in pulse height of differential pulse voltammetry. The results of the presently proposed strategy for the real samples analysis are similar to those obtained with HPLC. Thus, the proposed method has acceptable performance for simultaneous determination of the two species in real samples., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Disposable electrochemically reduced graphene oxide-based (ERGO) screen-printed electrodes (SPE) were developed for the determination of total tetracyclines as a sample screening approach. To this end, a selective adsorption-detection approach relied on adsorptive transfer stripping differential pulse voltammetry (AdTDPV) was devised, where the high adsorption capacity and the electrochemical properties of ERGO were simultaneously exploited. The approach was very simple, fast (6 min.), highly selective by combining the adsorptive and the electrochemical features of tetracyclines, and it used just 10 μL of the sample. The electrochemical sensor applicability was demonstrated in the analysis of environmental and food samples. The not-fully explored AdTDPV analytical possibilities on disposable nanostructured transducers become a new tool in food and environmental fields; drawing new horizons for "in-situ" analysis.

An electrochemical sensor for Pb(II) is described that exploits (a) the outstanding adsorption ability of chitosan modified with quaternary ammonium groups (CQAS; cationic) and of lignosulfonate (LSN; anionic), and (b) the good electrical conductivity of polypyrrole nanoparticles (PPy NPs). A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with PPy NPs and polydopamine, and CQAS and LSN are used as dispersants in PPy. The modified GCE exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity for Pb(II) in the 0.1 to 50 μM concentration range, with a 55 nM detection limit (3σ method). The redox potentials for Pb(II) is around -0.55 V, and the sensor is not interfered by the presence of Hg(II) and Cu(II). The time dependent stability test showed that this sensor can maintain good reproducibility for one month. This sensor was applied to the determination of Pb(II) in wastewater samples. An electrochemical sensor for lead(II) is described that exploits the outstanding adsorption ability of chitosan that carries quaternary ammonium groups (CQAS), of lignosulfonate (LSN), and the good electrical conductivity of polypyrrole nanoparticles. CQAS and LSN are used as dispersants in PPy. The sensor exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity for Pb(II) in the range of 0.1 to 50 μM with a 55 nM detection limit.

In this research, a sensitive and specific electrochemical biosensor for DNA detection was constructed. The highly sensitivity of this biosensor is due to the exploitation of exonuclease III-assisted double recycling and toehold-mediated strand displacement recycling to achieve the target triple recycling amplification, thus generating a large amount of Y-shaped DNA structures. Combination with a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TDT)-mediated cascaded signal amplification strategy can catalyze the repetitive incorporation of biotin-dUTP to the 3'-OH of the Y-shaped DNA. Via biotin-streptavidin interaction, multiple streptavidin-alkaline phosphatases were conjugated to the surface of an Au electrode and generated a sharply increasing electrochemical signal in a 1-naphthyl phosphate (1-NP) solution. In this method, an impressive detection limit of 0.05 fM was obtained, presenting outstanding selectivity with a dynamic response scope between 0.1 fM and 1 nΜ. Thus, the designed biosensor opens an avenue for DNA detection in clinical molecular diagnostics, pathogen detection, gene therapy, food safety and environmental monitoring., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Almond shell-based charcoal was prepared by carbonizing almond shells in a nitrogen atmosphere. Nanoporous carbon (NPC) was formed via activating the obtained charcoal using potassium hydroxide as an activating agent, followed by the synthesis of nitrogen-doped nanoporous carbon (N-NPC) via a hydrothermal reaction using urea as the nitrogen source. The obtained N-NPC possessed a large surface area (1075 m 2 g -1 ), narrow pore-size distribution (1-2 nm) and nitrogen content reaching 2.23 wt%. Using N-NPC with Nafion to modify a glassy carbon electrode, a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor was fabricated for the determination of Pb(ii) in aqueous solutions with differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). The peak current of Pb(ii) showed linearity over concentrations from 2.0 to 120 μg L -1 and the detection limit (S/N = 3) was estimated to be 0.7 μg L -1 for Pb(ii), which was 15-fold lower than the guideline value of drinking water given by the World Health Organization (WHO). The experimental data indicated that this easy and low-cost method is an accurate and fast method for the detection of trace Pb(ii)., Competing Interests: The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

25I-NBOH is a new potent serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonist recently identified in blotter paper seizures. This compound is a thermolabile molecule that undergoes degradation under routine gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis leading to misidentification. In this paper, the voltammetric behavior of 25I-NBOH and 2C-I was investigated and their electroanalytical characteristics were determined. A novel, fast and sensitive electrochemical method for the detection of 25I-NBOH using a SPCE is described and all method characteristics demonstrated the method to be analytically valuable. This method is selective and achieves full differentiation between 25I-NBOH, 2C-I and 25I-NBOMe.

Taking advantage of the low oxidation potential of polyphenolic compounds, voltammetric techniques, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) are used rather indiscriminately. In this work, we report Total Polyphenols results (TPP) obtained by these two techniques from a set of nine samples of red and Tawny Port wine. The CV and DPV voltammograms display significant correlations with the physical-chemical parameters used to characterize red and Tawny Port wines, particularly with polyphenols. Although data obtained from CV and DPV for a single polyphenol are directly proportional, important deviations are found between voltammetric results from wines. Results from CV tend to be larger than those from DPV. This difference, that can reach 50% of the TPP value, was related to the presence of total sulphur dioxide. In view of the present study, the polyphenol quantification in wines should be performed by DPV to minimize the interference of SO 2 ., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) thin layer served as the base for a non-enzymatic glucose sensor in an alkaline medium, 0.1 NaOH solution, with a linear range of 50-200 mg/dL using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) measurement. An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study confirmed the formation of the cuprous oxide layer on the thin gold film sensor prototype. Quantitative detection of glucose in both phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and undiluted human serum was carried out. Neither ascorbic acid nor uric acid, even at a relatively high concentration level (100 mg/dL in serum), interfered with the glucose detection, demonstrating the excellent selectivity of this non-enzymatic cuprous oxide thin layer-based glucose sensor. Chronoamperometry and single potential amperometric voltammetry were used to verify the measurements obtained by DPV, and the positive results validated that the detection of glucose in a 0.1 M NaOH alkaline medium by DPV measurement was effective. Nickel, platinum, and copper are commonly used metals for non-enzymatic glucose detection. The performance of these metal-based sensors for glucose detection using DPV were also evaluated. The cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) thin layer-based sensor showed the best sensitivity for glucose detection among the sensors evaluated., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Purpose: Electrochemical measurements have prompted the progress as a consequence of their affectability, cost-affectivity and comparatively short examination time. The aim of this study was the fast evaluation of the effect of chemotherapy compounds on the viability of lung cancer cells (A549) via electrochemical methods. Methods: Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used as a primary method to distinguish between electrochemical behavior of normal and lung cancer cells. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was employed as a complementary analyses method for the impact of doxorubicin (DOX) and Flavonoid modified drug (FMD) (US patent Application number: 62548886) on Lung cancer cells. Results: Only one oxidative peak, at approximately -0.15 V was detected through DPV method in cancer cell line. While a significant distinguish was not seen in CV. The current intensity (I) was decreased in cancer cells with increasing the DOX and FMD levels (t=99.027, α=0.05, P=0.0000), (t=135.513, α=0.05, P=0.0000), respectively. Conclusion: The movement of cancerous cells towards death through chemotherapy drugs such as DOX and FMD can make distinct and significant changes in the electrochemical behaviors of those cells.

In this study, a sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor was fabricated by using a screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) for detecting cholesterol. MWCNTs were functionalized with benzoic acid moiety by employing diazonium salt chemistry, and, subsequently, a thin film of functionalized CNTs were coated on the surface of SPCE. Afterwards, β-CD was immobilized on functionalized MWCNTs modified SPCE which acts as a host to recognize guest (cholesterol) molecule specifically. Under the optimal experimental conditions and using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) as transduction technique the sensor was able to detect cholesterol level ranges from 1 nM to 3 μM, with a detection limit of 0.5 nM. Specificity of the developed sensor towards target analyte (cholesterol) was confirmed in the presence of common interfering species including glucose, uric acid and ascorbic acid. The applicability of proposed sensor was also demonstrated for cholesterol determination in human serum samples with good recovery results (94-96%) and maximum RSD (relative standard deviation) of 4.5%., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A urea sensor base on reticulated nickel hydroxide is prepared by hydrothermal way and operated by differential pulse voltammetry method. The reticulated nickel hydroxide has been successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method and has been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The Ni(OH)2 sensor exhibits a higher sensor response (S) of 7.1 than NiO and Au sensing materials to 0.05 M urea concentration at 0.62 V. Various concentration of urea from 0.1 mM to 50 mM are performed on Ni(OH)2, and the sensor response are increased from 1.1 to 7.1 by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method. The urea detection limit is measured as 0.1 μM in this system. In addition, the Ni(OH)2 sensor exhibited good reproducibility and short term stability, and the response exhibits no obvious changes after 20 days tests. A possible sensing mechanism of Ni(OH)2 urea sensor is presented.

In this study, the electrochemical properties of a Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 biofilm were investigated using a mini-microbial electrochemical system. The performance of the biofilm was shown, using discharge test and cyclic voltammetry investigations, to improve over time. Differential pulse voltammograms were also acquired to determine the type of extracellular electron transfer that took place and to characterize the structure of the microbial biofilm formed on the electrode of the electrochemical system. These results indicated that extracellular electron transfer via a flavin-like mediator chemical predominated as the biofilm grew. The results, combined with a comparison of the measured current density with the calculated value of a seamless single-layered biofilm, also suggested that S. oneidensis MR-1 formed a multi-layered biofilm on the electrode., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)