Facile fabrication of a flexible laser induced gold nanoparticle/chitosan/ porous graphene electrode for uric acid detection.

We developed a simple, inexpensive, environmentally friendly one-step fabrication of a flexible laser induced graphene-chitosan-gold nanoparticles (LIG-CS-AuNPs) electrode. The fabrication was based on a laser treatment of polyimide (PI) film coated with CS solution containing gold ions (Au (III)). The AuNPs decorating the induced 3D graphene composite were uniformly distributed. The electrode exhibited good electrical conductivity and excellent electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of UA. To enable on-site monitoring of uric acid (UA) in blood serum by differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV), the electrode was coupled to a portable potentiostat connected to a cellphone to control and monitor analysis. The affecting parameters of DPAdSV were optimized. Under the optimal conditions for UA determination, the limit of detection of the developed sensor was 0.33 µmol L-1 and the limit of quantification 1.10 µmol L-1. Two linear ranges were produced: 1.0-30 µmol L-1 and 30-100 µmol L-1. The sensor was highly sensitive and demonstrated excellent reproducibility and selectivity, determining UA in blood serum with recoveries between 86.6 ± 0.6 and 94.7 ± 0.4%. The analysis results were in agreement with those of the hospital standard enzymatic method.

The Development of Digital Image Colorimetric Quantitative Analysis of Multi-Explosives Using Polymer Gel Sensors.

Polymer gel sensors on 96-well plates were successfully used to detect four different multi-explosives, including 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), nitrite, and perchlorate. The products of reactions between the explosives and the polymer gel sensors were digitally captured, and the images were analyzed by a developed Red-Green-Blue (RGB) analyzer program on a notebook computer. RGB color analysis provided the basic color data of the reaction products for the quantification of the explosives. The results provided good linear range, sensitivity, limit of detection, limit of quantitation, specificity, interference tolerance, and recovery. The method demonstrated great potential to detect explosives by colorimetric analysis of digital images of samples on 96-well plates. It is possible to apply the proposed method for quantitative on-site field screening of multi-explosives.

Electrochemical Sensor for Methamphetamine Detection Using Laser-Induced Porous Graphene Electrode.

A 3D porous graphene structure was directly induced by CO2 laser from the surface of Kapton tape (carbon source) supported by polyethylene terephthalate (PET) laminating film. A highly flexible laser-induced porous graphene (LI-PGr) electrode was then fabricated via a facile one-step method without reagent and solvent in a procedure that required no stencil mask. The method makes pattern design easy, and production cost-effective and scalable. We investigated the performance of the LI-PGr electrode for the detection of methamphetamine (MA) on household surfaces and in biological fluids. The material properties and morphology of LI-PGr were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) and Raman spectroscopy. The LI-PGr electrode was used as the detector in a portable electrochemical sensor, which exhibited a linear range from 1.00 to 30.0 µg mL-1 and a detection limit of 0.31 µg mL-1. Reproducibility was good (relative standard deviation of 2.50% at 10.0 µg mL-1; n = 10) and anti-interference was excellent. The sensor showed good precision and successfully determined MA on household surfaces and in saliva samples.