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Timely identification of cancers is pivotal in optimizing treatment efficacy and reducing their widespread impact. This study introduces a novel biosensor for the sensitive electrochemical detection of cancer cells overexpressing mucin 1 (MUC1), a well-established model for breast cancer. The sensor substrate comprises gold columnar nanostructures obtained through glancing angle deposition (GLAD) of copper nanostructures, subsequently replaced by gold via a facile galvanic replacement process. Functionalizing these gold nanostructures with aptamers targeting the MUC1 glycoproteins, a prominent cancer biomarker, enables specific recognition of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The proposed electrochemical sensing platform offers several advantages, including high selectivity, a wide linear range of detection, a low detection limit of 30 cells per mL, and long-term stability, rendering this sensor highly desirable for definitive breast cancer diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hematite (α-Fe2O3) is an attractive candidate for photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen generation by oxidation of water due to its low cost, earth-abundance and appropriate bandgap. However, large scale production of hematite thin films with efficient PEC performance is a challenging problem in the field. In this article, based on an electron beam evaporation method, we provide a scalable route for preparation of a Co–Pi modified hematite thin film with efficient solar water oxidation properties. To our knowledge, no work has been done on photoelectrochemical characterization of Co–Pi modified hematite films prepared based on electron beam evaporation. We show that by optimization of deposition conditions including the film thickness and annealing temperature and performing the deposition in an oxygen medium, an efficient PEC performance is achieved from the produced pristine hematite photoanode. By various characterizations including XRD, EDX, SEM, transient photocurrent and I–V measurements, and impedance spectroscopy, it is shown that the efficient performance is attributed to the improved crystalline structure and suppression of recombination centres originated from the defects in bulk and surface of the hematite layer. Also with deposition of different thicknesses of Co–Pi electro-catalysts on the hematite layer, the optimum structure for fast water oxidation and charge transfer kinetics across the interface of the photoanode and electrolyte is obtained. The most efficient photoanode delivers up to 1.5 (mA cm−2) at the potential of 1.5 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is among the large value photocurrents attained from a hematite-based photoanode, but with the advantage of large scale production capability of the proposed method of this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the effect of deposition of a α-Fe 2 O 3 thin layer on a substrate of TiO 2 nanoparticles for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The TiO 2 layer was coated on an FTO substrate using the paste of TiO 2 nanoparticles. The α-Fe 2 O 3 layer was deposited on the TiO 2 thin film, using the method of Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) with different cycles. Various characterizations including XRD, EDX and FE-SEM confirm the formation of α-Fe 2 O 3 and TiO 2 nanoparticles on the electrode. The UV-visible absorption spectrum confirms a remarkable enhancement of the absorption of the α-Fe 2 O 3 /TiO 2 /FTO composite relative to the bare TiO 2 /FTO. In addition, the photocurrents of the composite samples are remarkably higher than the bare TiO 2 /FTO. This is mainly due to the low band gap of α-Fe 2 O 3 , which extends the absorption spectrum of the α-Fe 2 O 3 /TiO 2 composite toward the visible region. In addition, the impedance spectroscopy analysis shows that the recombination rate of the charge carriers in the α-Fe 2 O 3 /TiO 2 is lower than that for the bare TiO 2 . The best PEC performance of the α-Fe 2 O 3 /TiO 2 sample was achieved by the sample of 70 cycles of α-Fe 2 O 3 deposition with about 7.5 times higher photocurrent relative to the bare TiO 2 ., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)