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A substantial development in nanoscale materials possessing catalytic activities comparable with natural enzymes has been accomplished. Their advantages were owing to the excellent sturdiness in an extreme environment, possibilities of their large-scale production resulting in higher profitability, and easy manipulation for modification. Despite these advantages, the main challenge for artificial enzyme mimetics is the lack of substrate selectivity where natural enzymes flourish. This review addresses this vital problem by introducing substrate selectivity strategies to three classes of artificial enzymes: molecularly imprinted polymers, nanozymes (NZs), and DNAzymes. These rationally designed strategies enhance the substrate selectivity and are discussed and exemplified throughout the review. Various functional mechanisms associated with applying enzyme mimetics in biosensing and bioassays are also given. Eventually, future directives toward enhancing the substrate selectivity of biomimetics and related challenges are discussed and evaluated based on their efficiency and convenience in biosensing and bioassays. [Display omitted] • Enzyme-mimicking nanomaterials critically issuing with substrate selectivity. • Strategies to enhance the substrate selectivity are discussed. • Biosensing and bioassay applications of biomimetics with enhanced substrate selectivity are discussed and exemplified. • Challenges and future perspectives are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limaprost, an orally administered analogue of prostaglandin E1, possesses potent vasodilatory, antiplatelet, and cytoprotective properties. Due to its extremely low therapeutic doses and exceedingly low plasma concentrations, the pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence studies of limaprost necessitate a highly sensitive quantitative method with a sub-pg/mL level of lower limit of quantification. Moreover, the intensity of endogenous interferences can even exceed the maximum concentration level of limaprost in human plasma, presenting further challenge to the quantification of limaprost. As a result, existing methods have not yet met the necessary level of sensitivity, selectivity, and throughput needed for the quantitative analysis of limaprost in pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence investigations. This study presents a new methodology that combines differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and utilizes a distinctive strategy to achieve more accurate DMS conditions. This integration yields a method that is currently the most sensitive and features the shortest analytical time, making it the sole technique capable of meeting the requirements for limaprost pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence investigations. This method demonstrates robustness and is successfully employed in a pharmacokinetic investigation of limaprost in human subjects, underscoring that the combination of DMS with LC-MS/MS serves as an efficacious strategy for overcoming the challenges inherent in analyzing biological samples afflicted by multiple interferences. [Display omitted] • LC-DMS-MS/MS for quantification of limaprost with ultra-high sensitivity. • Innovative on-column DMS optimization with post-extracted matrix spiked with analytes. • Significant reduction in analytical time compared to 2D-LC-MS/MS method. • Overcoming the challenges of high sensitivity and strong interference in bioanalysis. • Successful application in a pharmacokinetic study in human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical minerals will remain major active ingredients to most battery technologies for decades and innovation to improve extractive operations during spent battery effluent recycling must be carried out. Although the recovery of metal-ions in aqueous solutions has been demonstrated with membrane systems, including electrodialysis, process intensification to increase the diffusion rate at the membrane/liquid interface must be achieved to improve recovery efficiency. This manuscript presents a unique approach to increase the rate of recovery and transfer of Li+ and Co2+ ions from a membrane bulk phase to an organic liquid phase by applying deep eutectic solvent (DES) instead of an aqueous solution as the permeate stream during electrodialysis. The DES, based on choline chloride and urea at a molar ratio of 1:2, is considered green and relatively non-toxic valuable for solvent extraction purpose. Here, electrodialysis tests were conducted with this solvent on the permeate side using commercial Neosepta and laboratory-made cobalt selective membranes. The DES significantly affected cobalt transport across the membranes and separation factor which increased from 247 to 516, leading to cobalt recovery as high as 66 %. Furthermore, the use of DES on the permeate side greatly improved the energy efficiency increasing the amount of recovered cobalt per Joule of energy by over 20 %. [Display omitted] • Deep eutectic solvents (DES) enhance diffusion kinetics during electrodialysis. • Enhanced Li+ and Co2+ recovery with β Co/Li up to 516 • Assessment of the stability and properties changes of the membranes in DES • Green recovery approach utilising non-toxic DES [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]