Electroactive polypyrrole-molybdenum disulfide nanocomposite for ultrasensitive detection of berberine in rat plasma.

Electroactive polypyrrole-molybdenum disulfide (MoP) nanocomposites were synthesized and used for modifying screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) for ultrasensitive detection of berberine, an anticancer drug, in rat plasma. The electroactive nanocomposites were fabricated by exfoliating MoS2 followed by pyrrole polymerization. The effect of polypyrrole in the MoP nanocomposite was evaluated by varying the pyrrole concentration during polymerization, and the resulting nanocomposites prepared with pyrrole concentrations of 10, 20, 30 µL were named as MoP-1, MoP-2, and MoP-3, respectively. The electrochemical characterization of the three MoP nanocomposite sensors revealed that MoP-2/SPCE exhibited the highest electroactivity. The detection of berberine by the three MoP-coated SPCEs revealed that MoP-2/SPCE exhibited the highest activity against berberine due to a two-electron transfer mechanism on the MoP-2/SPCE electrode surface. The detection limit of berberine using the MoP-2/SPCE sensor was found to be about 0.05 µM, which is remarkably lower than the reported detection limits. The interference study proved the selectivity of the MoP-2/SPCE sensor toward berberine in the presence of other bioactive molecules and metal ions. The designed MoP-2/SPCE sensor retained 92% of its initial activity after 15 days of storage at room temperature, with RSD values of about 2.95% and 3.68% for the repeatability and reproducibility studies. Finally, the detection limit of berberine in a rat plasma sample determined using the MoP-2/SPCE sensor was found to be about 5 µM.

Innovative Strategy Based on a Novel Carbon-Black-ß-Cyclodextrin Nanocomposite for the Simultaneous Determination of the Anticancer Drug Flutamide and the Environmental Pollutant 4-Nitrophenol.

In the present work, a noncovalent and eco-friendly approach was proposed to prepare a carbon-black/ß-cyclodextrin (CB/ß-CD) nanocomposite. CB/ß-CD-nanocomposite-modified screen-printed carbon electrodes were applied for the simultaneous determination of the anticancer drug flutamide (Flut) and the environmental pollutant 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The electrochemical performance of the proposed sensor relied on the conductivity of CB, the different binding strengths of the guests (Flut and 4-NP) to the host (ß-CD), and the different reduction potentials of the nitroaromatic compounds. Fascinatingly, the proposed sensor exhibited an excellent electrochemical performance with high sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility. The obtained wide linear ranges were 0.05-158.3 and 0.125-225.8 µM for Flut and 4-NP. The low detection limits of 0.016 and 0.040 µM with the higher sensitivities of 5.476 and 9.168 µA µM-1 cm-2 were achieved for the determination of Flut and 4-NP, respectively. The practical feasibility of the proposed sensor was studied in tap-water and human-serum samples.

Highly sensitive electrochemical detection of palmatine using a biocompatible multiwalled carbon nanotube/poly-l-lysine composite.

To date, the natural alkaloids are mostly used in the field of pharmacological applications and the active substance of palmatine was extensively used in cancer therapy and other biomedical applications. Hence, in this study we report a simple preparation of poly-l-lysine (PLL) electro-polymerized on the surface of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNT) for electrochemical detection of palmatine content in human serum and urine samples. The active amino group of PLL plays a vital role towards the oxidation palmatine and exhibits superior electrocatalytic activity. Under optimum conditions, the prepared f-MWCNT/PLL composite shows a wide linear response range over the palmatine concentration ranging from 0.5µM to 425µM, and a detection limit (LOD) of 0.12µM based on S/N =3 (signal to noise ratio). The real time monitoring of palmatine content in serum and urine samples displays an appropriate recoveries and excellent performance for the practical analysis. The advantage of this developed system was simple, higher electrocatalytic activity, long-term stability and low cost. We hope that the prepared composite opens a new way for the fabrication of different biosensors in the field of biomedical application.

Green reduction of reduced graphene oxide with nickel tetraphenyl porphyrin nanocomposite modified electrode for enhanced electrochemical determination of environmentally pollutant nitrobenzene.

Nitrobenzene (NB) is widely used in the manufacturing of different types of products and other aromatic chemicals. Moreover, it is highly toxic and environmental pollutant compound. Therefore, the detection of nitro aromatic compounds (NACs) has gained more attention in the field of sensor. This article describes the green reduction utilized to preparation of green reduced graphene oxide/nickel tetraphenyl porphyrin (GRGO/Ni-TPP) nanocomposite modified electrode for the determination of nitrobenzene (NB). The GRGO was prepared by environmentally friendly method and using caffeic acid (CA) as a reducing agent. Moreover, the GRGO/Ni-TPP nanocomposite was prepared via the π-π stacking interaction between the RGO and Ni-TPP. In addition, the prepared material was confirmed by the UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The structural morphology and elemental composition of the prepared nanocomposite was confirmed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Besides, the electrochemical studies of the prepared nanocomposite was characterized by the CV and DPV technique. The DPV studies displayed the linearity response of the proposed sensor about 0.5-878µM with the sensitivity of 1.277µAµM-1cm-2 and the limit of detection (LOD) is 0.14µM. Furthermore, the GRGO/Ni-TPP nanocomposite modified electrode shows good selectivity towards the detection of NB. In addition, the real sample analysis exhibited appreciable recovery towards the determination of NB using various types of water samples.