ZnO Nanostructure-Based Intracellular Sensor

Recently ZnO has attracted much interest because of its usefulness for intracellular measurements of biochemical species by using its semiconducting, electrochemical, catalytic properties and for being biosafe and biocompatible. ZnO thus has a wide range of applications in optoelectronics, intracellular nanosensors, transducers, energy conversion and medical sciences. This review relates specifically to intracellular electrochemical (glucose and free metal ion) biosensors based on functionalized zinc oxide nanowires/nanorods. For intracellular measurements, the ZnO nanowires/nanorods were grown on the tip of a borosilicate glass capillary (0.7 µm in diameter) and functionalized with membranes or enzymes to produce intracellular selective metal ion or glucose sensors. Successful intracellular measurements were carried out using ZnO nanowires/nanorods grown on small tips for glucose and free metal ions using two types of cells, human fat cells and frog oocytes. The sensors in this study were used to detect real-time changes of metal ions and glucose across human fat cells and frog cells using changes in the electrochemical potential at the interface of the intracellular micro-environment. Such devices are helpful in explaining various intracellular processes involving ions and glucose.

A flexible anisotropic self-powered piezoelectric direction sensor based on double sided ZnO nanowires configuration

We have successfully synthesized highly dense and well aligned zinc oxide nanowires (NWs) on the two sides of a PEDOT: PSS substrate by a single step low temperature hydrothermal method. The grown sample was used to fabricate a double sided piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG). The maximum harvested output power density from the fabricated double sided NG configuration was about 4.44 mW cm(-2). The results obtained from the present double sided NG were approximately double the output from a single side. In addition to that, the voltage polarity of the harvested voltage from the two sides of the NG has been investigated. The results showed that upon bending, an anisotropic voltage polarity is generated on the two sides. Indicating that, this double sided NG can be used as a self-powered voltage polarity based direction sensor. The results of the present flexible double sided NG is very promising for harvesting energy from irregular mechanical energy sources in the surrounding environment. In addition, the fabricated configuration showed stability for sensing and can be used in surveillance and security applications.

A highly selective and sensitive electrochemical determination of melamine based on succinic acid functionalized copper oxide nanostructures

This study presents the development of a highly selective and sensitive electrochemical sensor for the determination of melamine from aqueous environments.

A solution processed carbon nanotube modified conducting paper sensor for cancer detection

A solution processed poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)–carbon nanotube (CNT) nano-composite has been utilized for the fabrication of a smart conducting paper (CP)viadip coating.

Glycine-assisted synthesis of NiO hollow cage-like nanostructures for sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensing

In this work, a highly sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensor was developed based on NiO hollow cage-like nanostructures (NiO HCs).

A porous PdO microrod-based electrochemical sensor for nanomolar-level Cu2+ released from cells

Highly porous PdO microrods (PoPdOMRs) with a well-defined morphology, large surface area and active sites were synthesized via a facile wet chemical method for the first time. A sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor was thus developed by using the PoPdOMRs as a sensing platform. The PoPdOMR modified sensor exhibited a response time of less than 8 s, a linear range between 1.0 × 10^-9 and 8.0 × 10^-5 mM, and a sensitivity up to 112 μA μM^-1 cm^-2 for the determination of Cu²⁺. A sound sensing selectivity towards Cu²⁺ in the presence of interfering ions was also observed. On the basis of this sensor, the trace amount of Cu²⁺ released from Raw 264.7 cells was successfully recorded, which makes the PoPdOMR electrocatalyst promising for the development of effective electrochemical sensors for a wide range of potential applications in bioanalysis and environmental chemistry.

Colorimetric disposable paper coated with ZnO@ZnS core-shell nanoparticles for detection of copper ions in aqueous solutions

In this study, we have proposed a new nanoparticle-containing test paper sensor that could be used as an inexpensive, easy-to-use, portable, and highly selective sensor to detect Cu(2+) ions in aqueous solutions. This disposable paper sensor is based on ZnO@ZnS core-shell nanoparticles. The core-shell nanoparticles were synthesized using a chemical method and then they were used for coating the paper. The synthesis of the ZnO@ZnS core-shell nanoparticles was performed at a temperature as low as 60 °C, and so far this is the lowest temperature for the synthesis of such core-shell nanoparticles. The sensitivity of the paper sensor was investigated for different Cu(2+) ion concentrations in aqueous solutions and the results show a direct linear relation between the Cu(2+) ions concentration and the color intensity of the paper sensor with a visual detection limit as low as 15 μM (∼0.96 ppm). Testing the present paper sensor on real river turbulent water shows a maximum 5% relative error for determining the Cu(2+) ions concentration, which confirms that the presented paper sensor can successfully be used efficiently for detection in complex solutions with high selectivity. Photographs of the paper sensor taken using a regular digital camera were transferred to a computer and analyzed by ImageJ Photoshop software. This finding demonstrates the potential of the present disposable paper sensor for the development of a portable, accurate, and selective heavy metal detection technology.

Development of a pH sensor using nanoporous nanostructures of NiO

Glass is the conventional material used in pH electrodes to monitor pH in various applications. However, the glass-based pH electrode has some limitations for particular applications. The glass sensor is limited in the use of in vivo biomedical, clinical or food applications because of the brittleness of glass, its large size, the difficulty in measuring small volumes and the absence of deformation (inflexibility). Nanostructure-based pH sensors are very sensitive, reliable, fast and applicable towards in vivo measurements. In this study, nanoporous NiO nanostructures are synthesized on a gold-coated glass substrate by a hydrothermal route using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a stabilizer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used for the morphological and crystalline studies. The grown NiO nanostructures are uniform and dense, and they possess good crystallinity. A pH sensor based on these NiO nanostructures was developed by testing the different pH values from 2-12 of phosphate buffered saline solution. The proposed pH sensor showed robust sensitivity of -43.74 ± 0.80 mV/pH and a quick response time of less than 10 s. Moreover, the repeatability, reproducibility and stability of the presented pH sensor were also studied.

An electrochemical dopamine sensor based on the ZnO/CuO nanohybrid structures

The selective detection of dopamine (DA) is of great importance in the modern medicine because dopamine is one of the main regulators in human behaviour. In this study, ZnO/CuO nanohybrid structures, grown on the gold coated glass substrate, have been investigated as a novel electrode material for the electrochemical detection of dopamine. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques were used for the material characterization and the obtained results are in good agreement. The selective determination of dopamine was demonstrated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometric experiments. The amperometric response was linear for dopamine concentrations between 1.0 x 10(-3) and 8.0 mM with a sensitivity of 90.9 μA mM(-1) cm(-2). The proposed dopamine biosensor is very stable, selective over common interferents as glucose, uric acid and ascorbic acid, and also good reproducibility was observed for seven electrodes. Moreover, the dopamine sensor exhibited a fast response time of less than 10 s. The wide range and acceptable sensitivity of the presented dopamine sensor provide the possible application in analysing the dopamine from the real samples.

A selective potentiometric copper (II) ion sensor based on the functionalized ZnO nanorods

In this work, ZnO nanorods were hydrothermally grown on the gold-coated glass substrate and characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The ZnO nanorods were functionalized by two different approaches and performance of the sensor electrode was monitored. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was carried out for the confirmation of interaction between the ionophore molecules and ZnO nanorods. In addition to this, the surface of the electrode was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showing the chemical and electronic state of the ionophore and ZnO nanorod components. The ionophore solution was prepared in the stabilizer, poly vinyl chloride (PVC) and additives, and then functionalized on the ZnO nanorods that have shown the Nernstian response with the slope of 31 mV/decade. However, the Cu2+ ion sensor was fabricated only by immobilizing the selective copper ion ionophore membrane without the use of PVC, plasticizers, additives and stabilizers and the sensor electrode showed a linear potentiometric response with a slope of 56.4 mV/decade within a large dynamic concentration range (from 1.0 x 10(-6) to 1.0 x 10(-1) M) of copper (II) nitrate solutions. The sensor showed excellent repeatability and reproducibility with response time of less than 10 s. The negligible response to potentially interfering metal ions such as calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+), iron (Fe3+), zinc (Zn2+), and sodium (Na+) allows this sensor to be used in biological studies. It may also be used as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration.

ZnO based potentiometric and amperometric nanosensors

The existence of nanomaterials provides the solid platform for sensing applications due to owing of high sensitivity and a low concentration limit of detection. More likely used nanomaterials for sensing applications includes gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, magnetic nanoparticles such as Fe3O4, quantum dots and metal oxides etc. Recently nanomaterial and biological detection becomes an interdisciplinary field and is very much focussed by the researchers. Among metal oxides ZnO is largely considered due to its less toxic nature, biocompatible, cheap and easy to synthesis. ZnO nanomaterial is highly used for the chemical sensing, especially electrochemical sensing due to its fascinating properties such as high surface to volume ratio, atoxic, biosafe and biocompatible. Moreover, ZnO nanostructures exhibit unique features which could expose a suitable nanoenviroment for the immobilization of proteineous material such as enzymes, DNA, antibodies, etc. and in doing so it retains the biological efficiency of the immobilized bio sensitive material. The following review describes the two different coatings (i.e., ionophore and enzyme) on the surface of ZnO nanorods for the chemical sensing of zinc ion detection, thallium (I) ion detection, and L-lactic acid and the measurement of galactose molecules. ZnO nanorods provide the excellent transducing properties in the generation of strong electrical signals. Moreover, this review is very much focused on the applications of ZnO nanostructures in the sensing field.

Hydrothermal growth of CuO nanoleaf structures, and their mercuric ion detection application

Mercury is the hazardous heavy metal ion for the environment and the human being therefore its determination is very important and herein we describe the development of mercury ion sensor on the CuO nanoleaf like nanostructures using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant as template for the growth by hydrothermal growth method. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction study has shown high density and good crystal quality of the fabricated CuO nanostructures respectively. The presented mercury ion sensor has detected the wide range of 1.0 x 10(-7) to 1.0 x 10(-1) M mercury ion concentrations with an acceptable Nernstian behaviour and a sensitivity of 30.1 ± 0.6 mV/decade. The proposed mercury ion sensor exhibited low detection limit of 1.0 x 10(-8) M and also a fast response time of less than 5 s. In addition, the presented mercury ion sensor has shown an excellent repeatability, reproducibility, stability and selectivity. Moreover, the mercury ion selective electrode based on CuO nanoleaves was tested as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration.

A potentiometric biosensor for the detection of notch 3 using functionalized ZnO nanorods

The notch signalling plays a vital and radical role for the activity of cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. In this study, for the first time a particular biosensor is developed for the detection of notch 3. ZnO nanorods were fabricated on the gold coated glass substrate by hydrothermal method and afterwards were decorated with the gold nanoparticles by electrodepositing technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has shown the perpendicular to the substrate growth pattern of ZnO nanorods. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies showed the c-axis oriented growth direction with wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO nanorods. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) techniques have shown the presence of Zn, O and Au atoms in the prepared functional material. Furthermore, the anti-notch 3 was physically adsorbed on the gold nanoparticles functionalized ZnO nanorods. The developed potentiometric immunosensor has shown response to the wide range of notch 3 molecules. The detected range included 1.00 x 10(-5)-1.50 x 10(0 ) μg/mL with a sensitivity of 23.15 ± 0.31 mV/decade. The analytical parameters including reproducibility, stability, and selectivity were also investigated and the observed results indicate the acceptable performance of the notch 3 biosensor. Moreover, the proposed notch 3 biosensor exhibited a fast response time of 10 s.

Synthesis of three dimensional nickel cobalt oxide nanoneedles on nickel foam, their characterization and glucose sensing application

In the present work, NiCo2O4 nanostructures are fabricated in three dimensions (3D) on nickel foam by the hydrothermal method. The nanomaterial was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The nanostructures exhibit nanoneedle-like morphology grown in 3D with good crystalline quality. The nanomaterial is composed of nickel, cobalt and oxygen atoms. By using the favorable porosity of the nanomaterial and the substrate itself, a sensitive glucose sensor is proposed by immobilizing glucose oxidase. The presented glucose sensor has shown linear response over a wide range of glucose concentrations from 0.005 mM to 15 mM with a sensitivity of 91.34 mV/decade and a fast response time of less than 10 s. The NiCo2O4 nanostructures-based glucose sensor has shown excellent reproducibility, repeatability and stability. The sensor showed negligible response to the normal concentrations of common interferents with glucose sensing, including uric acid, dopamine and ascorbic acid. All these favorable advantages of the fabricated glucose sensor suggest that it may have high potential for the determination of glucose in biological samples, food and other related areas.