CsPbBr3 Perovskite Quantum Dots Encapsulated by a Polymer Matrix for Ultrasensitive Dynamic Imaging of Intracellular MicroRNA.

Herein, CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots (CPB PQDs)@poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) (CPB@PMMA) nanospheres were used as energy donors with high Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency and exceptional biocompatibility for ultrasensitive dynamic imaging of tiny amounts of microRNAs in living cells. Impressively, compared with traditional homogeneous single QDs as energy donors, CPB@PMMA obtained by encapsulating numerous CPB PQDs into PMMA as energy donors could not only significantly increase the efficiency of FRET via improving the local concentration of CPB PQDs but also distinctly avoid the problem of cytotoxicity caused by divulged heavy metal ions entering living cells. Most importantly, in the presence of target miRNA-21, DNA dendrimer-like nanostructures labeled with 6-carboxy-tetramethylrhodamine (TAMRA) were generated by the exposed tether interhybridization of the Y-shape structure, which could wrap around the surface of CPB@PMMA nanospheres to remarkably bridge the distance of FRET and increase the opportunity for effective energy transfer, resulting in excellent precision and accuracy for ultrasensitive and dynamic imaging of miRNAs. As proof of concept, the proposed strategy exhibited ultrahigh sensitivity with a detection limit of 45.3 aM and distinctly distinguished drug-irritative miRNA concentration abnormalities with living cells. Hence, the proposed enzyme-free CPB@PMMA biosensor provides convincing evidence for supplying accurate information, which could be expected to be a powerful tool for bioanalysis, diagnosis, and prognosis of human diseases.

Dual-Ligand Ruthenium Coordination Polymer-Derived Self-Enhanced Electrochemiluminescent Emitters for Sensitive Detection of Procalcitonin.

Ru-based electrochemiluminescence (ECL) coordination polymers are widely employed for bioanalysis and medical diagnosis. However, commonly used Ru-based coordination polymers face the limitation of low efficiency due to the long distance between the ECL reagent and the coreactant dispersed in detecting solution. Herein, we report a dual-ligand self-enhanced ECL coordination polymer, composed of tris(4,4'-dicarboxylic acid-2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) dichloride (Ru(dcbpy)32+) as ECL reactant ligand and ethylenediamine (EDA) as corresponding coreactant ligand into Zn2+ metal node, termed Zn-Ru-EDA. Zn-Ru-EDA shows excellent ECL performance which is attributed to the effective intramolecular electron transport between the two ligands. Furthermore, the dual-ligand polymer allows an anodic low excitation potential (+1.09 V) luminescence. The shift in the energy level of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) upward after the synthesis of the Zn-Ru-EDA has resulted in a reduced excitation potential. The low excitation potential reduced biomolecular damage and the destruction of the modified electrodes. The ECL biosensor has been constructed using Zn-Ru-EDA with high ECL efficiency for the ultrasensitive detection of a bacterial infection and sepsis biomarker, procalcitonin (PCT), in the range from 1.00 × 10-6 to 1.00 × 10 ng·mL-1 with outstanding selectivity, and the detection limit was as low as 0.47 fg·mL-1. Collectively, the dual-ligand-based self-enhanced polymer may provide an ideal strategy for high ECL efficiency improvement as well as designing new self-enhanced multiple-ligand-based coordination in sensitive biomolecular detection for early disease diagnostics.

An electrochemiluminescence immunosensor based on multipath signal catalytic amplification integrated in a Cu2+-PEI-Pt/AuNC nanocomposite.

Here, the nanocomposite Cu2+-PEI-Pt/AuNCs with multipath signal catalytic amplification for a peroxydisulfate-dissolved oxygen electrochemiluminescence (ECL) system was prepared to fabricate a sensitive ECL immunosensor. Using polyethyleneimine (PEI), a linear polymer, as the reductant and template, Pt/Au nanochains (Pt/AuNCs) were prepared. Abundant PEI would adsorb on the surface of Pt/AuNCs via Pt-N or Au-N bonds, and further coordinate with Cu2+ to give the final nanocomposite Cu2+-PEI-Pt/AuNCs which possessed multipath signal catalytic amplification for the ECL of the peroxydisulfate-dissolved oxygen system in the presence of H2O2. First, PEI, as an effective co-reactant, could directly enhance the ECL intensity. Second, Pt/AuNCs could not only act as a mimicking enzyme to promote the decomposition of H2O2 to produce more oxygen in situ, but also act as an effective co-reaction accelerator to facilitate the generation of more co-reactive intermediate groups from peroxydisulfate, resulting in an obviously enhanced ECL signal. Then, Cu2+ could also accelerate the decomposition of H2O2 to produce more oxygen in situ, leading to a further improvement of the ECL response. Using Cu2+-PEI-Pt/AuNCs as a loading platform, a sandwiched ECL immunosensor was fabricated. As a result, the obtained ECL immunosensor possessed an ultra-sensitive detection performance for α-1-fetoprotein, providing effective information on the diagnosis and treatment of related diseases.

Ultrasensitive Fluorescence Detection and Accurate Colocalization Visualization of Dual-miRNAs in Cancer Cells Based on the Conjugated Chain Reaction of Multifunctional Pentagon DNA Nanostructures.

Herein, a multifunctional pentagon DNA nanostructure (MPDN) was assembled by the hybridization of a circular DNA scaffold containing five different fragments with five diverse DNA oligonucleotides for simultaneous sensitive detection and accurate colocalization imaging of dual-miRNAs in cancer cells. Exactly, the MPDN could specifically and efficiently internalize into folate (FA) receptor-overexpressed cells via specific binding of FA and the FA receptor to distinguish cancer cells from normal cells and transform trace amounts of targets miRNA-21 and miRNA-155 into substantial FAM and Cy5-labeled DNA polymers as the signal probe to generate two remarkable fluorescence emissions, realizing simultaneously sensitive detection of dual-miRNAs. Impressively, compared with traditional small fragment DNA probes with high fluidity, the DNA copolymers with extremely low diffusivity kept it in the originally generated position to achieve the colocalization imaging of dual-miRNAs more accurately for revealing the spatial expression information of dual-miRNAs in tissues and cells. This strategy provided programmable tool to simultaneously detect and accurately colocate dual-miRNAs for understanding normal physiology and the tumor mechanism.

Kill Three Birds with One Stone: Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-Hosted Ag Nanoclusters with Boosted Cathodic Electrochemiluminescence for Biosensing Application.

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) have attracted extensive interest in electrochemiluminescence (ECL) field, but it is still a significant challenge to prepare high ECL efficiency NCs, which tremendously precludes their application in sensing and imaging. Herein, we report poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as a functional ligand for NCs with a "kill three birds with one stone" role, acting as a stabilizer like existing templates, excitingly, excellent electrical conductivity to accelerate the injection of interfacial electrons, and outstanding electrocatalytic activity toward coreactants (S2O82-), which breaks the convention that traditional ligands act as a double-edged sword in ECL field. As an illustration, PEDOT-hosted Ag NCs were prepared with an unprecedented ECL intensity with S2O82- as a cathodic coreactant, which indicates that this novel ligand strategy will bring exciting opportunities, not only in opening up new horizons for rational development of high ECL efficiency metal NCs but also in advancing their potential applications in light-emitting devices and clinical biosensing. As a proof of concept, the PEDOT-hosted Ag NCs were applied as neoteric ECL emitters to achieve sensitive detection of dopamine (DA), which showcased a wide linear response from 1 nM to 10 mM and a low detection limit of 0.17 nM.

Functional Three-Dimensional Porous Conductive Polymer Hydrogels for Sensitive Electrochemiluminescence in Situ Detection of H2O2 Released from Live Cells.

Reliable and sensitive in situ detection of molecules released from live cells attracts tremendous research interest, as it shows significance in pathological and physiological investigation. In the present work, a novel electrochemiluminescent (ECL) luminophore, N-(aminobutyl)- N-(ethylisoluminol)-functionalized Ag nanoparticles modified three-dimensional (3D) polyaniline-phytic acid conducting hydrogel (ABEI-Ag@PAni-PA), is synthesized to adhere cells for in situ sensitive ECL detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) released from live cells. The obtained 3D nanostructured ABEI-Ag@PAni-PA conducting hydrogels synergize the advantages of a conducting hydrogel and a nanoparticle catalyst, in which the PAni-PA conducting hydrogels benefit the cell adhesion and high loading density of the ABEI-Ag luminescent material due to their good biocompatibility, porous structure, and 3D continuous framework. Importantly, compared with the traditional procedure for detection of H2O2 released from cells in solution, adhesion of cells on ABEI-Ag@PAni-PA conducting hydrogels provides a short diffusion distance to reaction sites for H2O2, thus realizing sensitive in situ monitoring of H2O2 released from cells under drug stimulation. With good biocompatibility, high sensitivity, and easy preparation, the ECL biosensor based on ABEI-Ag@PAni-PA conducting hydrogels can be expanded to detect other molecules released from cells, which may facilitate the investigation of pathology and physiology.

Self-Enhanced Ultrasensitive Photoelectrochemical Biosensor Based on Nanocapsule Packaging Both Donor-Acceptor-Type Photoactive Material and Its Sensitizer.

In this work, a self-enhanced ultrasensitive photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensor was established based on a functionalized nanocapsule packaging both donor-acceptor-type photoactive material and its sensitizer. The functionalized nanocapsule with self-enhanced PEC responses was achieved first by packaging both the donor-acceptor-type photoactive material (poly{4,8-bis[5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene-2,6-diyl-alt-3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophene-4,6-diyl}, PTB7-Th) and its sensitizer (nano-C60, fullerene) in poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to form a nanocapsule, which significantly enhanced PEC signal and stability of the PEC biosensor. Moreover, a quadratic enzymes-assisted target recycling amplification strategy was introduced to the system for ultrasensitive determination. Compared with other established PEC biosensors, our proposed self-enhanced approach showed higher effectivity, accuracy, sensitivity, and convenience without any addition of coreactant or sensitizers into the testing electrolyte for photocurrent amplification and performed excellent analytical properties for microRNA estimation down to femtomole level with microRNA-141 as a model. Additionally, the proposed PEC biosensor was employed for estimation of microRNA in different cancer cells and pharmacodynamic evaluation in cancer cells. This self-enhanced PEC strategy has laid the foundation for fabrication of simple, effective, and ultrasensitive PEC diagnostic devices, leading to the possibility for early diagnosis, timely stage estimation, and accurate prognosis judgment of disease.

Ultrasensitive apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 immunosensing based on self-enhanced electrochemiluminescence of a Ru(II) complex.

An alternative "signal on" immunosensor for ultrasensitive detection of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE-1) was designed utilizing the self-enhanced electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of a novel Ru(II) complex functionalized coil-like nanocomposite as signal labels. The desirable self-enhanced ECL luminophore was achieved by combining the coreactant of poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) and the luminophor of bis(2,2'-bipyridine)-5-amino-1,10-phenanthroline ruthenium(II) [Ru(bpy)2(5-NH2-1,10-phen)(2+)] to form one novel Ru(II) complex, which exhibited significantly enhanced ECL efficiency and stability. Moreover, the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were employed as nanocarriers for self-enhanced Ru(II) complex loading via π-π stacking to obtain the coil-like nanocomposite to act as signal probe. Compared with traditional ECL immunoassay, our proposed strategy is simple and sensitive, avoiding the adding of any coreactant into testing solution for signal amplification, and shows a detection limit down to subfemtogram per milliliter level under the optimized experimental condition.

A supersandwich electrochemiluminescence immunosensor based on mimic-intramolecular interaction for sensitive detection of proteins.

An electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunoassay protocol was developed based on mimic-intramolecular interaction for sensitive detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA). It was constructed by integrating the ECL luminophore (tris(4,4'-dicarboxylicacid-2,2'-bipyridyl)-ruthenium(ii)dichloride (Ru(dcbpy)3(2+))) and coreactant (histidine) into the supersandwich DNA structure. This strategy was more effective in amplifying the ECL signal by shortening the electronic transmission distance, improving the ECL luminous stability and enhancing the ECL luminous efficiency. The ECL matrices denoted as MWCNTs@PDA-AuNPs were fabricated through spontaneous oxidative polymerization of dopamine (DA) on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and reducing HAuCl4 to produce gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by DA simultaneously. Then, the prepared matrices were applied to bind capture antibodies. Moreover, supersandwich Ab2 bioconjugate was designed using a PAMAM dendrimer to immobilize the detection antibody and supersandwich DNA structure. The PAMAM dendrimer, with a plurality of secondary and tertiary amine groups, not only facilitated high-density immobilization of the detection antibody and supersandwich DNA structure, but also greatly amplified the ECL signal of Ru(dcbpy)3(2+). The supersandwich DNA structure contained multiple Ru(dcbpy)3(2+) and histidine, further amplifying the ECL signal. The proposed supersandwich immunosensor showed high sensitivity with a detection limit of 4.2 fg mL(-1) and a wide linear range of 0.01 pg mL(-1)-40.00 ng mL(-1). With the excellent stability, satisfying precision and reproducibility, the proposed immunosensor indicates promising practicability for clinical diagnosis.

A novel amperometric immunosensor constructed with gold-platinum nanoparticles and horseradish peroxidase nanoparticles as well as nickel hexacyanoferrates nanoparticles.

In this study, three nano-materials comprising gold-platinum nanoparticles (Au-PtNPs), horseradish peroxidase nanoparticles (HRPNPs) and nickel hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles (NiHCFNPs) were used to construct a signal-off immunosensor. Au-PtNPs and NiHCFNPs were assembled on a glass carbon electrode (GCE) by electrodeposition and gold-cyanide bond formation, respectively; anti-fetoproteins (anti-AFP) were immobilized on the Au-PtNPs. HRPNPs were employed to block the possible remaining active sites and avoid nonspecific adsorption. Here, NiHCFNPs served as redox probes, while Au-PtNPs and HRPNPs were used for the synergistic catalysis of H(2)O(2) to amplify the signal. With more and more immunocomplex produced by the antibody-antigen reaction covering the biosensing surface, thus hindering electron transfer, the catalytic peak current will decrease quantitatively in relation to the concentration of target antigen. The resulting immunosensors exhibited a fast response and excellent sensitivity to α-fetoprotein (AFP), and showed two linear ranges in the concentration ranges of 0.06-13 ng mL(-1) and 13-200 ng mL(-1) with a detection limit of 0.017 ng mL(-1).

In situ hybridization chain reaction amplification for universal and highly sensitive electrochemiluminescent detection of DNA.

In this work, we describe a new universal and highly sensitive strategy for electrochemiluminescent (ECL) detection of sequence specific DNA at the femtomolar level via in situ hybridization chain reaction (HCR) signal amplification. The DNA capture probes are self-assembled on a gold electrode. The presence of the target DNA and two hairpin helper DNAs leads to the formation of extended dsDNA polymers through HCR on the electrode surface. The in situ, HCR-generated dsDNA polymers cause the intercalation of numerous ECL indicators (Ru(phen)(3)(2+)) into the dsDNA grooves, resulting in significantly amplified ECL signal output. The proposed strategy combines the amplification power of the DNA HCR and the inherent high sensitivity of the ECL technique and enables low femtomolar detection of sequence specific DNA. The developed strategy also shows high selectivity against single-base mismatch sequences, which makes our new universal and highly sensitive HCR-based method a useful addition to the amplified DNA detection arena.

Quantum dot layer-by-layer assemblies as signal amplification labels for ultrasensitive electronic detection of uropathogens.

The preparation and use of a new class of signal amplification label, quantum dot (QD) layer-by-layer (LBL) assembled polystyrene microsphere composite, for amplified ultrasensitive electronic detection of uropathogen-specific DNA sequences is described. The target DNA is sandwiched between the capture probes immobilized on the magnetic beads and the signaling probes conjugated to the QD LBL assembled polystyrene beads. Because of the dramatic signal amplification by the numerous QDs involved in each single DNA binding event, subfemtomolar level detection of uropathogen-specific DNA sequences is achieved, which makes our strategy among the most sensitive electronic approach for nucleic acid-based monitoring of pathogens. Our signal amplified detection scheme could be readily expanded to monitor other important biomolecules (e.g., proteins, peptides, amino acids, cells, etc.) in ultralow levels and thus holds great potential for early diagnosis of disease biomarkers.

Glucose biosensor based on titanium dioxide-multiwall carbon nanotubes-chitosan composite and functionalized gold nanoparticles.

In this paper, a new glucose biosensor was prepared. At first, Prussian blue (PB) was electrodeposited on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified by titanium dioxide-multiwall carbon nanotubes-chitosan (TiO(2)-MWNTs-CS) composite, and then gold nanoparticles functionalized by poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA-Au) were adsorbed on the PB film. Finally, the negatively charged glucose oxidase (GOD) was self-assembled on to the positively charged PDDA-Au. The electrochemical performances of the modified electrodes had been studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometric methods, respectively. In addition, the stepwise fabrication process of the as-prepared biosensor was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. PDDA-Au nanoparticles were characterized by ultraviolet-vis absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Under the optimal conditions, the as-prepared biosensor exhibited a good response performance to glucose with a linear range from 6 µM to 1.2 mM with a detection limit of 0.1 µM glucose (S/N = 3). In addition, this work indicated that TiO(2)-MWNTs-CS composite and PDDA-Au nanoparticles held great potential for constructing biosensors.

Study on an amperometric immunosensor based on Nafion-cysteine composite membrane for detection of carcinoembryonic antigen.

In this work, protonated L-cysteine was entrapped in Nafion (Nf) membrane by cation exchange function, forming Nf-Cys (cysteine) composite membrane, which was more stable, compact, biocompatible, and favorable for mass and electron transfer compared with Nf film solely. Then gold (Au) nanoparticles were adsorbed onto the electrode surface by thiol groups on the composite membrane. After that, nano-Au monolayer was formed, onto which carcinoembryonic antibody was loaded to prepare carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) immunosensor. The results indicated that the immunosensor had good current response for CEA using potassium ferricyanide as the redox probe. A linear concentration range of 0.01 to 100 ng/ml with a detection limit of 3.3 pg/ml (signal/noise=3) was observed. Moreover, the morphology of the modified Au substrates was investigated with atomic force microscopy, and the electrochemical properties and performance of modified electrodes were investigated by cyclic voltammograms and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results exhibited that the immunosensor has advantages of simple preparation, high sensitivity, good stability, and long life expectancy. Thus, the method can be used for CEA analysis.

Preparation of a composite film electrochemically deposited with chitosan and gold nanoparticles for the determination of alpha-1-fetoprotein.

A novel amperometric immunosensor based on chitosan-gold nanoparticles (Chit-GNPs) composite film and thionine (Thi) was prepared for the determination of alpha-1-fetoprotein (AFP). The immunosensor was prepared by electro-depositing a Chit-GNPs composite matrix on the surface of the glass carbon electrode, then Thi was immobilized onto the Chit-GNPs film using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linker. Furthermore, the GNPs were chemisorbed onto Thi film for immobilization of alpha-1-fetoprotein antibody. The procedure of the immunosensor was characterized by means of cyclic voltammograms. The performance and influencing factors of the resulting immunosensor were studied in details. Under optimal conditions, the immunosensor was highly sensitive to AFP and the linear range covered from 0.40 to 200.0 ng mL(-1) with a detection limit of 0.24 ng mL(-1) at three times background noise. Moreover, the simple and controllable electro-deposition method overcame the irreproducibility for preparing Chit-based immunosensor systems and the proposed immunosensor displayed a satisfactory reproducibility and stability.

Highly Sensitive Photoelectrochemical Biosensor Based on Quantum Dots Sensitizing Bi2Te3 Nanosheets and DNA-Amplifying Strategies.

In this work, Bi2Te3 nanosheets treated with N-vinyl-pyrrolidinone showed highly sufficient and stable photocurrent for being used as a novel photoactive material. Accordingly, with CdTe quantum dots (QDs) sensitizing Bi2Te3 nanosheets, photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensor coupling of DNA-amplifying strategies was constructed for sensitive miRNA-21 detection. Initially, the Bi2Te3 nanosheets on the electrode have conductive surface states with dissipationless electronic property, thus providing a highly stable photocurrent and a large surface-to-volume ratio. Then, with the participation of target miRNA-21 and auxiliary DNA, strand displacement amplification took place, thereby opening substantial DNA hairpins for triggering the next hybridization chain reaction (HCR). Through the HCR, long DNA tails decorated with CdTe QDs could thus be assembled on the electrode for enhancing the photocurrent of Bi2Te3 nanosheets. As a result, the proposed PEC biosensor showed a wide detection range from 10 fM to 100 pM with a detection limit of 3.3 fM, displaying a promising avenue to construct simple, ultrasensitive, and stable analytical techniques and tremendous potential in bioanalysis and early clinical diagnosis.

Rapid self-disassembly of DNA diblock copolymer micelles via target induced hydrophilic-hydrophobic regulation for sensitive MiRNA detection.

In this work, a novel DNA nanostructure with a shorter assembly time and larger loading capacity was constructed using amphiphilic DNA-alkane group (Spacer C12)10 conjugates encapsulating plentiful fat-soluble fluorescent dyes into the hydrophobic core to form the DNA micelles, which could be rapidly self-disassembled via target induced hydrophilic-hydrophobic regulation to release fluorescent dyes from micelles to the organic phase, realizing the fast and sensitive detection of microRNA.

Study on immunosensor based on gold nanoparticles/chitosan and MnO2 nanoparticles composite membrane/Prussian blue modified gold electrode.

A novel and convenient immunosensor, based on the electrostatic adsorption characteristics between the positively charged MnO(2) nanoparticles (nano-MnO(2)) and chitosan (CS) composite membrane (nano-MnO(2) + CS) and the negatively charged prussian blue (PB), was prepared for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Firstly, PB was electro-deposited on the surface of the gold electrode in the constant potential, and then nano-MnO(2) + CS was adsorbed onto PB-modified electrode surface. Subsequently, Gold nanoparticles (nano-Au) were electro-deposited on the nano-MnO(2) + CS-modified electrode to immobilize antibody CEA (anti-CEA). Finally, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was employed to block sites against nonspecific binding. In our study, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the fabricated process of the immunosensor. The immunosensor put up a rapid response time, high sensitivity and stability. Under the optimized conditions, cyclic voltammograms(CVs) determination of CEA displayed a broader linear response to CEA in two ranges, from 0.25 to 8.0 ng/mL, and from 8.0 to 100 ng/mL, with a relative low-detection limit of 0.083 ng/mL at three times the background and noise. The originality of the preparation of the immunosensor lies in not only using the synergistic effect of two kinds of nanomaterials (nano-MnO(2) and nano-Au) to immobilize anti-CEA, but also using nano-MnO(2) + CS to furnish a media transferring electron path. What is more, the researched methodology was efficient and potentially attractive for clinical immunoassays.

BSA stabilized tetraphenylethylene nanocrystals as aggregation-induced enhanced electrochemiluminescence emitters for ultrasensitive microRNA assay.

On the basis of BSA stabilized tetraphenylethylene nanocrystals (BSA-TPE NCs) as aggregation-induced enhanced electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emitters with high ECL efficiency and good biocompatibility, as well as molecular recognition between ß-CD and ferrocene, an ultrasensitive and versatile ECL biosensing platform was constructed to achieve microRNA detection in cancer cells.

Fabrication of an iodide-selective electrode based on phthalocyaninatotitanium(IV) oxide and the selective determination of iodide in actual samples.

This work describes the development and fabrication of a selective polymeric membrane electrode for iodide ion based on a metallophthalocyanin complex with a titanium(IV) atom at the center (as an oxo-titanium, Ti=O, group), phthalocyaninatotitanium(IV) oxide (PcTiO), as a sensing carrier. The potential response characteristics of the electrode were investigated by changing the type of plasticizer as well as the amounts of the carrier and different lipophilic ionic site additives in the sensing membrane. It is shown that the membrane electrode incorporated with 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether as the plasticizer and hexadecyl trimethylammonium bromide as the appropriate cationic additive exhibits enhanced potential response toward iodide over other anions tested. Over the period of this study, the resulting electrode based on PcTiO displayed a stable near-Nernstian slope approaching -58.9 mV decade(-1) with a linear response spanning at least 5 orders of magnitude in concentration from 1.0 x 10(-1) to 9.2 x 10(-7) mol L(-1) and a detection limit of 8.5-10(-7) mol L(-1). The preferential potential response to iodide may be attributed to the unique recognition of carrier PcTiO in the organic membrane phase for iodide in solution. Under laboratory conditions, the present electrode also works well in partially nonaqueous media. The excellent analytical features of the proposed electrode could lead to its successful application in determining the end point in electrometric titration of iodide with Ag(+) and the direct potential determination of iodide concentration in wastewater and drug preparations.