Construction of electrochemical sensing interface towards Cd(II) based on activated g-C3N4 nanosheets: considering the effects of exfoliation and protonation treatment

Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanomaterials-Based Electrochemical Sensing Interfaces for Monitoring Heavy Metal Ions in Aqueous Environments

The persistent threat of heavy metal ions (e.g., Pb2+, Hg2+, Cd2+) in aqueous environments to human health underscores an urgent need for advanced sensing platforms capable of rapid and precise pollutant monitoring. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), a metal-free polymeric semiconductor, has emerged as a revolutionary material for constructing next-generation environmental sensors due to its exceptional physicochemical properties, including tunable electronic structure, high chemical/thermal stability, large surface area, and unique optical characteristics. This review systematically explores the integration of g-C3N4 with functional nanomaterials (e.g., metal nanoparticles, metal oxide nanomaterials, carbonaceous materials, and conduction polymer) to engineer high-performance sensing interfaces for heavy metal detection. The structure-property relationship is critically analyzed, emphasizing how morphology engineering (nanofibers, nanosheets, and mesoporous) and surface functionalization strategies enhance sensitivity and selectivity. Advanced detection mechanisms are elucidated, including electrochemical signal amplification, and photoinduced electron transfer processes enabled by g-C3N4's tailored bandgap and surface active sites. Furthermore, this review addresses challenges in real-world deployment, such as scalable nanomaterial synthesis, matrix interference mitigation, and long-term reliable detection. This work provides valuable insights for advancing g-C3N4-based electrochemical sensing technologies toward sustainable environmental monitoring and intelligent pollution control systems.

Integrating CRISPR/Cas12a with strand displacement amplification for the ultrasensitive aptasensing of cadmium(II)

Cadmium ion (Cd(II)) is a pernicious environmental pollutant that has been shown to contaminate agricultural lands, accumulate through the food chain, and seriously threaten human health. At present, Cd(II) monitoring is dependent on centralized instruments, necessitating the development of rapid and on-site detection platforms. Against this backdrop, the present study reports on the development of a fluorometric aptasensor designed to target Cd(II), which is achieved through the integration of strand displacement amplification (SDA) and CRISPR/Cas12a. In the absence of Cd(II), the aptamer initiates SDA, resulting in the generation of a profusion of ssDNA that activates Cas12a, leading to a substantial increase in fluorescence output. Conversely, the presence of Cd(II) curtails the SDA efficiency, culminating in a significant reduction in fluorescence output. The proposed approach has been demonstrated to enable the selective detection of Cd(II) at concentrations of 60 pM, with the performance of the aptasensor validated in real water and rice samples. The proposed platform based on aptamer-target interaction holds immense promise as a signal-amplified and precise method for the detection of Cd(II) and has the potential to transform current hazard detection practices in food samples.

Graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets as promising candidates for the detection of hazardous contaminants of environmental and biological concern in aqueous matrices

Monitoring of pollutant and toxic substances is essential for cleaner environment and healthy life. Sensing of various environmental contaminants and biomolecules such as heavy metals, pharmaceutics, toxic gases, volatile organic compounds, food toxins, and pathogens is of high importance to guaranty the good health and sustainable environment to community. In recent years, graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) has drawn a significant amount of interest as a sensor due to its large surface area and unique electrochemical properties, low bandgap energy, high thermal and chemical stability, facile synthesis, nontoxicity, and electron rich property. Furthermore, the binary and ternary nanocomposites of graphitic carbon nitride further enhance their performance as a sensor making it a cost effective, fast, and reliable gadget for the purpose, and opens a wide area of research. Numerous reviews addressing a variety of applications including photocatalytic energy conversion, photoelectrochemical detection, and hydrogen evolution of graphitic carbon nitride have been documented to date. But a lesser attention has been devoted to the mechanistic approaches towards sensing of variety of pollutants concerned with environmental and biological aspects. Herein, we present the sensing features of graphitic carbon nitride towards the detection of various analytes including toxic heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, phenolic compounds, nitroaromatic compounds, volatile organic molecules, toxic gases, and foodborne pathogens. This review will undoubtedly provide future insights for researchers working in the field of sensors, allowing them to investigate the intriguing graphitic carbon nitride material as a sensing platform that is comparable to several other nanomaterials documented in the literature. Therefore, we hope that this study could reveal some intriguing sensing properties of graphitic carbon nitride, which may help researchers better understand how it interacts with contaminants of environmental and biological concern. Graphitic carbon nitride Nanosheets as Promising Analytical Tool for Environmental and Biological Monitoring of Hazardous Substances.

Simultaneous electrochemical sensing of heavy metal ions based on a g-C3N4/CNT/NH2-MIL-88(Fe) nanocomposite

The presence of Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ in drinking-water can be harmful to human health, even if their concentration is fairly low. Hence, it is significant to detect these heavy metal ions in sewage to evaluate the quality of water. Herein, amino-functionalized metal-organic frameworks (NH₂-MIL-88(Fe)) embedded with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) nanosheets and acid-functionalized carbon nanotubes were prepared via a one-pot synthesis. The composite can be directly modified on the surface of glass carbon electrodes without the assistance of Nafion or other binders. The modified glass carbon electrodes can be used to simultaneously detect Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ in water via square wave stripping voltammetry. The doping of g-C₃N₄ in the composite, rich in N-containing functional groups, participates in the adsorption of metal ions on the surface of the electrodes. The porous composite provides accommodation room for metals generated by electro-reduction. The detection limit for Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ is 39.6 nM, 7.6 nM, 11.9 nM, and 9.6 nM, respectively. And the sensitivity for Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ is 0.0789 mA μM^-1 cm^-2, 0.4122 mA μM^-1 cm^-2, 0.2616 mA μM^-1 cm^-2, and 0.3251 mA μM^-1 cm^-2, respectively. This work not only enriches the functional design of Fe-MOF materials, but also develops a method for the determination of metal ions using the adsorption sites in g-C₃N₄.

Graphitic Carbon Nitride: A Highly Electroactive Nanomaterial for Environmental and Clinical Sensing

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a two-dimensional conjugated polymer that has attracted the interest of researchers and industrial communities owing to its outstanding analytical merits such as low-cost synthesis, high stability, unique electronic properties, catalytic ability, high quantum yield, nontoxicity, metal-free, low bandgap energy, and electron-rich properties. Notably, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is the most stable allotrope of carbon nitrides. It has been explored in various analytical fields due to its excellent biocompatibility properties, including ease of surface functionalization and hydrogen-bonding. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) acts as a nanomediator and serves as an immobilization layer to detect various biomolecules. Numerous reports have been presented in the literature on applying graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for the construction of electrochemical sensors and biosensors. Different electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry, electrochemiluminescence, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, square wave anodic stripping voltammetry, and amperometry techniques have been extensively used for the detection of biologic molecules and heavy metals, with high sensitivity and good selectivity. For this reason, the leading drive of this review is to stress the importance of employing graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for the fabrication of electrochemical sensors and biosensors.