Polyelectrolytes Assembly: A Powerful Tool for Electrochemical Sensing Application.

The development of sensing coatings, as important sensor elements that integrate functionality, simplicity, chemical stability, and physical stability, has been shown to play a major role in electrochemical sensing system development trends. Simple and versatile assembling procedures and scalability make polyelectrolytes highly convenient for use in electrochemical sensing applications. Polyelectrolytes are mainly used in electrochemical sensor architectures for entrapping (incorporation, immobilization, etc.) various materials into sensing layers. These materials can often increase sensitivity, selectivity, and electronic communications with the electrode substrate, and they can mediate electron transfer between an analyte and transducer. Analytical performance can be significantly improved by the synergistic effect of materials (sensing material, transducer, and mediator) present in these composites. As most reported methods for the preparation of polyelectrolyte-based sensing layers are layer-by-layer and casting/coating methods, this review focuses on the use of the latter methods in the development of electrochemical sensors within the last decade. In contrast to many reviews related to electrochemical sensors that feature polyelectrolytes, this review is focused on architectures of sensing layers and the role of polyelectrolytes in the development of sensing systems. Additionally, the role of polyelectrolytes in the preparation and modification of various nanoparticles, nanoprobes, reporter probes, nanobeads, etc. that are used in electrochemical sensing systems is also reviewed.

Electroanalytical Determination of Cysteine Using the Electrodes Based on Ternary Silver-Copper Sulfides.

The amperometric determination of cysteine, using an electrode based on ternary silver-copper sulfide, is presented. Electrochemical characterizations (using cyclic voltammetry) of three electrode materials revealed that the electrode based on the material that consists of jalpaite (Ag3CuS2), doped with a small amount of metallic silver, has the best electrocatalytical performance for cysteine oxidation. For the amperometric determination, 0.142 V at pH 5 and 0.04 V at pH 7 vs. Ag/AgCl, related to the electrocatalytical oxidation of thiol group, were chosen. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy together with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that oxidation takes place on the electrode surface with fouling effect, which does not affect a wide linear working range between 1 µM and 100 µM. Sensitivities, at pH 5 and pH 7, are calculated to be 0.11 µA µM-1 and 0.10 µA µM-1, respectively. The detection limits were determined to be 0.036 µM and 0.024 µM for pH 5 and pH 7, respectively. In the presence of uric acid, folic acid, ascorbic acid, and glucose no interference was noticed. This electrode showed remarkable stability and excellent reproducibility. The electrode was exploited for the determination of cysteine in a dietary supplement with the excellent recoveries.

Surface Modifications of the Biodegradable Magnesium Based Implants with Self-Assembled Monolayers Formed by T-BAG Method.

In this paper, magnesium based materials (Mg and Mg-alloy (AZ91D)) were surface modified using various organic acids (carboxylic and phosphonic), in order to improve corrosion resistance and enhance theirs biocompatibility. Formations of surface layer were performed by tethering by aggregation and growth (T-BAG) method. Organization and bond mode of these layers were examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Additionally, semiempirical quantum molecular modeling calculation methods were used for getting insight into their structural and electronic properties, as also as corrosion resistance in the physiological solution (Hanks' solution). Corrosion resistance of modified materials were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in the physiological solution (Hanks' solution) and obtained results reveal a beneficial effect of the modification by forming organic acids self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on the corrosion properties of magnesium based materials, especially layers of octadecylphosphonic acid. The maximum corrosion inhibition efficiency of 87% for magnesium and of 93% for Mg-alloy (AZ91D) are achieved by the formation of octadecylphosphonic acid (ODPA) SAM.