A high-performance electrochemical sensor based on a mesoporous silica/titania material and cobalt(II) phthalocyanine for sensitive pentachlorophenol determination.

The synthesis and characterization of a novel titania/silica hybrid xerogel subsequently modified with 4-methylpyridine (4-Pic), named TiSi4Pic+Cl- is reported. The physicochemical, structural and thermal properties of TiSi4Pic+Cl- were characterized using several techniques. Anchoring cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoTsPc) in TiSi4Pic+Cl- showed greater electroanalytical sensitivity over other sensors built with these materials. A novel electroanalytical method was developed to quantify the noxious biocide pentachlorophenol (PCP) for environmental monitoring. The peak current intensity increased linearly with the analyte concentration in the range between 0.99 and 4.21 µmol L-1, based on the oxidation process (at + 0.81 V, vs. Ag/AgCl) of differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The estimated limit of detection (LOD) was 29 nmol L-1. Recovery tests in environmental samples showed a PCP concentration of 2.05 ± 0.03 µmol L-1 (n = 3). The method was statistically validated by comparing the PCP concentrations with those obtained by molecular absorption spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). At a 95% confidence level, no difference between the results was found, therefore confirming the excellent accuracy of the proposed method.

Chitosan/genipin modified electrode for voltammetric determination of interleukin-6 as a biomarker of sepsis.

Ultrasensitive electroanalytical monitoring of interleukin-6 levels in serum samples has emerged as a valuable tool for the early diagnosis of inflammatory diseases. Despite its advantages, there is a lack of strategies for the label-free voltammetric determination of cytokines. Here, a novel chitosan/genipin modified fluorine tin oxide electrode was developed providing an in-situ hydrogel formation (FTO/CSG). This platform was applied for the detection of interleukin-6, a major pro-inflammatory cytokine. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicated genipin serves as an efficient green cross-linker to build the immunosensing platform (FTO/CSG/anti-IL-6). EIS showed an increase in charge transfer resistance from 326 to 1360 kΩ after the immobilization of anti-IL-6 antibodies. By square wave voltammetry, this method achieved a detection limit of 0.03 pg mL-1 with a wide linear range of 0.05-1000 pg mL-1. Additionally, it displayed a high selectivity index when tested in the presence of three inflammatory cytokines as interfering proteins: IL-12, IL-1ß, and TNF-α. The sample matrix effect showed a peak current variation lower than 5 %. The novel method was applied for the quantification of IL-6 in serum samples of septic mice. No statistical differences were observed between the standard ELISA and the proposed method using a confidence level of 95 %.

A versatile 3D printed multi-electrode cell for determination of three COVID-19 biomarkers.

3D-printing has shown an outstanding performance for the production of versatile electrochemical devices. However, there is a lack of studies in the field of 3D-printed miniaturized settings for multiplex biosensing. In this work, we propose a fully 3D-printed micro-volume cell containing six working electrodes (WEs) that operates with 250 µL of sample. A polylactic acid/carbon black conductive filament (PLA/CB) was used to print the WEs and subsequently modified with graphene oxide (GO), to support protein binding. Cyclic voltammetry was employed to investigate the electrochemical behaviour of the novel multi-electrode cell. In the presence of K3[Fe(CN)6], PLA/CB/GO showed adequate peak resolution for subsequent label-free immunosensing. The innovative 3D-printed cell was applied for multiplex voltammetric detection of three COVID-19 biomarkers as a proof-of-concept. The multiple sensors showed a wide linear range with detection limits of 5, 1 and 1 pg mL-1 for N-protein, SRBD-protein, and anti-SRBD, respectively. The sensor performance enabled the selective sequential detection of N protein, SRBD protein, and anti-SRBD at biological levels in saliva and serum. In summary, the miniaturized six-electrode cell presents an alternative for the low-cost and fast production of customizable devices for multi-target sensing with promising application in the development of point-of-care sensors.