Effect of nanocellulose polymorphism on electrochemical analytical performance in hybrid nanocomposites with non-oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes

Two cellulose nanocrystals/single-walled carbon nanotube (CNC/SW) hybrids, using two cellulose polymorphs, were evaluated as electrochemical transducers: CNC type I (CNC-I/SW) and CNC type II (CNC-II/SW). They were synthesized and fully characterized, and their analytical performance as electrochemical sensors was carefully studied. In comparison with SWCNT-based and screen-printed carbon electrodes, CNC/SW sensors showed superior electroanalytical performance in terms of sensitivity and selectivity, not only in the detection of small metabolites (uric acid, dopamine, and tyrosine) but also in the detection of complex glycoproteins (alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP)). More importantly, CNC-II/SW exhibited 20 times higher sensitivity than CNC-I/SW for AGP determination, yielding a LOD of 7 mg L−1.These results demonstrate the critical role played by nanocellulose polymorphism in the electrochemical performance of CNC/SW hybrid materials, opening new directions in the electrochemical sensing of these complex molecules. In general, these high-active-surface hybrids smartly exploited the preserved non-oxidized SW conductivity with the high aqueous dispersibility of the CNC, avoiding the use of organic solvents or the incorporation of toxic surfactants during their processing, making the CNC/SW hybrids promising nanomaterials for electrochemical detection following greener approaches. Graphical abstract

Design, Modeling and Simulation of a Liquid Jet Gyroscope Based on Electrochemical Transducers

We propose a novel liquid jet gyroscope based on electrochemical transducers, which uses electrolyte as the jet medium, and two electrochemical transducers placed symmetrically as the velocity measuring unit. The gyroscope includes a fluid pump to generate a jet flow, which flows into the jet chamber. Then, it is diverged into the shunt channels, pumped into reflux channels and merged by a fluid pump. The velocities of shunt flows are measured by two electrochemical transducers. The feasibility of the method was demonstrated in theory, and a 2D finite element model was built to simulate the dynamics of the liquid jet gyroscope. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the gyroscope, which has higher sensitivity in the near DC frequency band.

The Role of Peptides in the Design of Electrochemical Biosensors for Clinical Diagnostics

Peptides represent a promising class of biorecognition elements that can be coupled to electrochemical transducers. The benefits lie mainly in their stability and selectivity toward a target analyte. Furthermore, they can be synthesized rather easily and modified with specific functional groups, thus making them suitable for the development of novel architectures for biosensing platforms, as well as alternative labelling tools. Peptides have also been proposed as antibiofouling agents. Indeed, biofouling caused by the accumulation of biomolecules on electrode surfaces is one of the major issues and challenges to be addressed in the practical application of electrochemical biosensors. In this review, we summarise trends from the last three years in the design and development of electrochemical biosensors using synthetic peptides. The different roles of peptides in the design of electrochemical biosensors are described. The main procedures of selection and synthesis are discussed. Selected applications in clinical diagnostics are also described.

Electrochemical Response of Glucose Oxidase Adsorbed on Laser-Induced Graphene

Carbon-based electrodes have demonstrated great promise as electrochemical transducers in the development of biosensors. More recently, laser-induced graphene (LIG), a graphene derivative, appears as a great candidate due to its superior electron transfer characteristics, high surface area and simplicity in its synthesis. The continuous interest in the development of cost-effective, more stable and reliable biosensors for glucose detection make them the most studied and explored within the academic and industry community. In this work, the electrochemistry of glucose oxidase (GOx) adsorbed on LIG electrodes is studied in detail. In addition to the well-known electroactivity of free flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), the cofactor of GOx, at the expected half-wave potential of −0.490 V vs. Ag/AgCl (1 M KCl), a new well-defined redox pair at 0.155 V is observed and shown to be related to LIG/GOx interaction. A systematic study was undertaken in order to understand the origin of this activity, including scan rate and pH dependence, along with glucose detection tests. Two protons and two electrons are involved in this reaction, which is shown to be sensitive to the concentration of glucose, restraining its origin to the electron transfer from FAD in the active site of GOx to the electrode via direct or mediated by quinone derivatives acting as mediators.

Integrating high-performing electrochemical transducers in lateral flow assay

Lateral flow assays (LFAs) are the best-performing and best-known point-of-care tests worldwide. Over the last decade, they have experienced an increasing interest by researchers towards improving their analytical performance while maintaining their robust assay platform. Commercially, visual and optical detection strategies dominate, but it is especially the research on integrating electrochemical (EC) approaches that may have a chance to significantly improve an LFA’s performance that is needed in order to detect analytes reliably at lower concentrations than currently possible. In fact, EC-LFAs offer advantages in terms of quantitative determination, low-cost, high sensitivity, and even simple, label-free strategies. Here, the various configurations of EC-LFAs published are summarized and critically evaluated. In short, most of them rely on applying conventional transducers, e.g., screen-printed electrode, to ensure reliability of the assay, and additional advances are afforded by the beneficial features of nanomaterials. It is predicted that these will be further implemented in EC-LFAs as high-performance transducers. Considering the low cost of point-of-care devices, it becomes even more important to also identify strategies that efficiently integrate nanomaterials into EC-LFAs in a high-throughput manner while maintaining their favorable analytical performance.

ТЕХНОЛОГИЯ И ПРИМЕНЕНИЕ ЭЛЕКТРОХИМИЧЕСКИХ ПРЕОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЕЙ

Электрохимические системы очень перспективны для разработки новой элементной базы для микроэлектроники и для использования в широком спектре инженерных задач. Мы разработали новую микроэлектронную технологию для изготовления электрохимических преобразователей (ЭХП) и новые приборы на основе новых электрохимических микроэлектронных чипов. Планарные электрохимические преобразователи могут использоваться в акселерометрах, сейсмических датчиках, датчиках вращения, гидрофонах и датчиках давления. Electrochemical systems are very promising for the development of a new element base for microelectronics, and for use in a wide range of engineering applications. We have developed a new microelectronic technology for manufacturing electrochemical transducers (ECP) and new devices based on new electrochemical microelectronic chips. Planar electrochemical transducers are used in accelerometers, seismic sensors, rotation sensors, hydrophones and pressure sensors.

ОПТИМИЗАЦИЯ ПАРАМЕТРОВ ПЛАНАРНЫХ ЭЛЕКТРОХИМИЧЕСКИХ ПРЕОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЕЙ

Исследовано влияние основных геометрических параметров планарных электрохимических преобразователей на выходные характеристики. Смоделированы процессы переноса в электрохимическом преобразователе при различных геометрических параметрах преобразователя и изучена зависимость стационарного тока в системе от ее параметров. The paper studies the influence of the basic geometric parameters on the output characteristics of planar electrochemical transducers. Transport processes in electrochemical transducers with various geometric parameters and the dependence of the stationary current on them have been simulated.

ПЛАНАРНЫЙ ЭЛЕКТРОХИМИЧЕСКИЙ МАГНИТОГИДРОДИНАМИЧЕСКИЙ АКСЕЛЕРОМЕТР

Электрохимические преобразователи на основе магнитогидродинамического эффекта (МГД) предназначены для преобразования внешнего механического возмущения в электрический ток. В данной работе было выполнено моделирование оппозитной планарной структуры МГД-преобразователя, рассчитаны распределения потока жидкости и потоков ионов в преобразователе и оценены характеристики МГД-преобразователя. Electrochemical transducers based on the magnetohydrodynamic effect (MHD) are designed to convert an external mechanical motion into output electric current. The research deals with modeling the opposed planar structure of the MHD transducer, as well as calculating the distribution of the liquid flow and ion flows in the transducer, and estimating the characteristics of the MHD transducer.