Degradation of aquatic humic material by ultraviolet light

Natural humic water was treated with ultraviolet (UV) light and UV + hydrogen peroxide . The effects on the dissolved organic carbon content (DOC), the UV-absorbance at 254 nm (UV-abs.), the molecular size distribution, pH, and mutagenic activity were monitored, and the identity and concentrations of the most abundant gas chromatographable organic degradation products were determined. The DOC content and the UV-abs. of the water decreased substantially during treatment with. The decreases were dependent on the time of irradiation (UV dose) as well as on the H2O2 dose applied. The humus macromolecules were degraded to smaller fragments during irradiation. At higher UV doses, however, part of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) was found to precipitate, probably as a result of polymerization. Oxalic acid, acetic acid, malonic acid, and n-butanoic acid were the most abundant degradation products detected. These acids were found to account for up to 20% and 80% of the DOM in UV- and waters, respectively. No mutagenic activity was generated by the UV irradiation or the treatment. It is further concluded that the substantial mutagenic activity formed during chlorination of humic waters cannot be decreased by using UV irradiation as a pretreatment step.

Enhanced resonance light scattering based on biocatalytic growth of gold nanoparticles for biosensors design

The biocatalytic growth of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) has been employed in the design of new optical biosensors based on the enhanced resonance light scattering (RLS) signals. Both absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis revealed Au-NP seeds could be effectively enlarged upon the reaction with H2O2, an important metabolite that could be generated by many biocatalytic reactions.

Highly ordered mesoporous carbons as electrode material for the construction of electrochemical dehydrogenase- and oxidase-based biosensors

In this work, the excel lent catalytic activity of highly ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) to the electrooxidation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was described for the construction of electrochemical alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and glucose oxidase (GOD)-based biosensors.

Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as peroxidase mimetics and their applications in H2O2 and glucose detection

Artificial enzyme mimetics are a current research interest because natural enzymes bear some serious disadvantages, such as their catalytic activity can be easily inhibited and they can be digested by proteases. A very recently study reported by Yan et al. has proven that Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) exhibit an intrinsic enzyme mimetic activity similar to that found in natural peroxidases, though MNPs are usually thought to be biological and chemical inert (Gao, L. Z.; Zhuang, J.; Nie, L.; Zhang, J. B.; Zhang, Y.; Gu, N.; Wang, T. H.; Feng, J.; Yang, D. L.; Perrett, S.; Yan, X. Y. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2007, 2, 577-583).

Direct electrochemistry of horseradish peroxidase immobilized in calcium carbonate microsphere doped with phospholipids

Protein electrochemistry affords a direct method to study the biological electron transfer processes. However, supplying a biocompatible environment to maintain the native state of protein is all-important and challengeable. Here, we chose vaterite, one of the crystalline polymorphs of calcium carbonate, with highly porous nature and large specific surface area, which was doped with phospholipids, as the matrix to immobilize horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The integrity of HRP was kept during the simple immobilization procedure. By virtue of this organic/inorganic complex matrix, the direct electrochemistry of HRP was realized, and the activity of HRP for catalyzing reduction of O-2 and H2O2 was preserved.

Electrochemistry of Microperoxidase-11 (MP-11) on Glassy Carbon Electrode Modified with Chitosan

In this paper, microperoxidase-11 (MP-11) was immobilized on glassy carbon electrode surface modified with chitosan by physical adsorption. The direct electrochemistry and the electrocatalytic behaviours to O-2 and the H2O2 of MP-11 on glassy carbon electrode modified with chitosan were characterized by cyclic voltammetry. The results indicate that MP-11 on modified electrode displays a quasi-reversible electrochemical process coupled with proton transfer in the phosphate buffer solutions(pH = 7.12). Direct electrochemical reaction of MP-11 on modified electrode has been realized. MP-11 on modified electrode can catalyze reduction for O-2 and H2O2. Both of the catalytic reductions are surface-controlled electrochemical process.

Preparation of gold nanoparticles/functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposites and its glucose biosensing application

Gold nanoparticles stabilized by amino-terminated ionic liquid (Au-IL) have been in situ noncovalently deposited on poly(sodium 4-styrene-sulfonate) (PSS)-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to form a MWCNTs/PSS/Au-IL nanocomposite. PSS can interact with MWCNTs through hydrophobic interaction. Amino-terminated ionic liquid was applied to reduce aqueous HAuCl4, and the resulting gold nanoparticles were attached to the PSS-functionalized MWCNTs simultaneously. Most gold nanoparticles dispersed well on the functionalized MWCNTs. Transmission electron microscopy, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to confirm the composition and structure of the nanocomposites. The resulting MWCNTs/PSS/Au-IL composite exhibits good electrocatalysis toward oxygen and hydrogen peroxide reduction.

Pt Nanoparticles Supported on TiO2 Colloidal Spheres with Nanoporous Surface: Preparation and Use as an Enhancing Material for Biosensing Applications

An easy surface-modified method has been developed to link -NH2 groups to the TiO2 colloidal spheres with nanoporous surface (f-TiO2). It was found that the as-prepared f-TiO2 is positively charged in neutral conditions and could act as an electrostatic anchor for nanosructures with opposite charge, Furthermore, platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) are successfully assembled on the f-TiO2 mainly via electrostatic interaction to fabricate a new kind of Pt NPs/TiO2 hybrid nanomaterial (f-TiO2-Pt NPs). The morphology, structure, and composition of the hybrids were characterized by the means of diverse techniques such as transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and Raman spectra. Electrochemical experiments indicate the electrode modified with f-TiO2-Pt NPs shows prominent electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide.

Gold nanowire assembling architecture for H2O2 electrochemical sensor

Morphological control of nanomaterials is of great interest due to their size and shape-dependent chemical and physical properties and very important applications in many fields such as biomedicine, sensors, electronics and others. In this paper, we reported a simple strategy for synthesizing gold nanowire assembling architecture at room temperature. It is found that two important factors, the proper volume ratio of ethanol to water and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), will play important roles in synthesizing flower-like short gold nanowire assembling spheres. Furthermore, the obtained flower-like gold assembling spheres with high surface-to-volume ratio have been employed as enhancing materials for electrochemical sensing H2O2. The present electrochemical sensing platform exhibited good electrocatalytic activity towards the reduction of H2O2. The detection limit for H2O2 was found to be 1.2 mu M, which was lower than certain enzyme-based biosensors.

Nanocomposite based on depositing platinum nanostructure onto carbon nanotubes through a one-pot, facile synthesis method for amperometric sensing

Platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) were deposited onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) through direct chemical reduction without any other stabilizing agents. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and cyclic voltammetry were employed to characterize the morphology of the as-prepared nanocomposite (noted as Pt NPs-MWNTs) and further identify the Pt NPs on the surface of MWNTs. The nanocomposite demonstrated the ability to electrocatalyze the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide and substantially raises the response current. A sensitivity of 591.33 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2) was obtained at Pt NPs-MWNTs modified electrode. Thus, we immobilized glucose oxidase (GOD) as a model enzyme on the nanocomposite-based electrode with a thin layer of Nafion to fabricate a glucose biosensor, which showed sensitive and fast response to glucose. The influence of the GOD loading was investigated and the biosensor with an enzyme loading concentration of 10 mg/mL shows optimal performance for glucose detection, that is, a detection limit of 3 mu M and a response time of 3 s, respectively.

Prussian Blue/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Hybrids: Synthesis, Assembly and Electrochemical Behavior

Prussian blue/carbon nanotube (PB/CNT) hybrids with excellent dispersibility in aqueous solutions were synthesized by adding CNTs to an acidic solution of Fe3+, [Fe(CN)(6)](3-) and KCl. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were employed to confirm the formation of PB/CNT hybrids. The PB nanoparticles formed on the CNT surfaces exhibit a narrow size distribution and an average size of 40 nm. The present results demonstrate that the selective reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ by CNTs is the key step for PB/CNT hybrid formation. The subsequent fabrication of the PB/CNT hybrid films was achieved by layer-by-layer technique. The thus-prepared PB/CNT hybrid films exhibit electrocatalytic activity towards H2O2 reduction.

Carbon Nanotube/Silica Coaxial Nanocable as a Three-Dimensional Support for Loading Diverse Ultra-High-Density Metal Nanostructures: Facile Preparation and Use as Enhanced Materials for Electrochemical Devices and SERS

In this paper, we have reported a very simple strategy (combined sonication with sol-gel techniques) for synthesizing well-defined silica-coated carbon nanotube (CNT) coaxial nanocable without prior CNT functionalization. After functionalization with NH2 group, the CNT/silica coaxial nanocable has been employed as a three-dimensional support for loading ultra-high-density metal or hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) such as gold NPs, Au/Pt hybrid NPs, Pt hollow NPs, and Au/Ag core/shell NPs. Most importantly, it is found that the ultra-high-density Au/Pt NPs supported on coaxial nanocables (UASCN) could be used as enhanced materials for constructing electrochemical devices with high performance. Four model probe molecules (O-2, CH3OH, H2O2, and NH2NH2) have been investigated on UASCN-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). It was observed that the present UASCN exhibited high electrocatalytic activity toward diverse molecules and was a promising electrocatalyst for constructing electrochemical devices with high performance. For instance, the detection limit for H2O2 with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 was found to be 0.3 mu M, which was lower than certain enzyme-based biosensors.

Enhanced response induced by polyelectrolyte-functionalized ionic liquid in glucose biosensor based on sol-gel organic-inorganic hybrid material

In this work, a polyelectrolyte-functionalized ionic liquid (PFIL) was firstly incorporated into a sol-gel organic-inorganic hybrid material (PFIL/sol-gel). This new composite material was used to immobilize glucose oxidase on a glassy carbon electrode. An enhanced current response towards glucose was obtained, relative to a control case without PFIL. In addition, chronoamperometry showed that electroactive mediators diffused at a rate 10 times higher in the apparent diffusion coefficient in PFIL-containing matrices. These findings suggest a potential application in bioelectroanalytical chemistry.

A novel method to construct a third-generation biosensor: self-assembling gold nanoparticles on thiol-functionalized poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid) nanospheres

A novel method for fabrication of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) biosensor has been developed by self-assembling gold nanoparticles on thiol-functionalized poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid) (St-co-AA) nanospheres. At first, a cleaned gold electrode was immersed in thiol-functionalized poly(St-co-AA) nanosphere latex prepared by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of St with AA and function with dithioglycol to assemble the nanospheres, then gold nanoparticles were chemisorbed onto the thiol groups. Finally, horseradish peroxi- dase was immobilized on the surface of the gold nanoparticles. The sensor displayed an excellent electrocatalytical response to reduction of H2O2 without the aid of an electron mediator. The sensor was highly sensitive to hydrogen peroxide with a detection limit of 4.0 mumol l(-1), and the linear range was from 10.0 mumol l(-1) to 7.0 mmol l(-1). The biosensor retained more than 97.8% of its original activity after 60 days of use. Moreover, the Studied biosensor exhibited good current repeatability and good fabrication reproducibility.

Electrochemical biosensors based on advanced bioimmobilization matrices

Biosensors have experienced rapid, extensive development. To maintain the bioactivity of biomolecules and to give the electrochemical output signal required, appropriate bioimmobilization matrices for biomolecules are critical.In this review, we describe some advanced membrane materials (including hydrogels, sol-gel-derived organic-inorganic composites and lipid membranes), introduce electrochemical biosensors based on bioimmobilization materials and describe their performance.Biosensors operating in extreme conditions and displaying direct electron transfer with electrodes based on these advanced membrane materials are attractive. Recent developments in nanomaterials include biosensors, so we emphasize the intersection of nanomaterials with advanced membrane materials in biosensors.