Carbonaceous Materials-12: a Novel Highly Sensitive Graphene Oxide-Based Carbon Electrode: Preparation, Characterization, and Heavy Metal Analysis in Food Samples

Review on emerging applications of nanobiosensor in food safety

Nanosensors have become an indispensable tool in the food sector due to their specificity and sensitivity. The biosensor consists of a transducer coupled with a biorecognition component to transform biological signal into digital signal. Nanobiosensors have been widely used for sensing toxic chemicals such as pesticide residues and pathogenic microbes owing to their accurate sensitivity in an affordable manner, which gives more hope to the food industry on their applications. It employs nanocarriers to bind to impurities and pollutants, as well as food-borne microorganisms and their resulting toxins, such as mycotoxins. This modern technology ensures food safety in food processing industries. Nowadays, nanoparticle-immobilized sensors act as spot indicators to improve smart food packing technology. Certain types of nanobiosensors are deployed to monitor food product manufacture till packaging and to check the freshness of the product till spoilage identification. They are mainly using enzyme catalysts, which are highly sensitive to extreme environmental conditions. As a result, there is a greater evaluation requirement in nanosensor technology to adopt any temperature, pH, or other difficult parameters. Its stability, while in contact with food substrates, is another criterion that needs to be regularized. Within this framework, this review delves into the latest developments in nanobiosensors and the obstacles encountered during their use across different food industries.

Nanomaterials-Based Ion-Imprinted Electrochemical Sensors for Heavy Metal Ions Detection: A Review

Heavy metal ions (HMIs) pose a serious threat to the environment and human body because they are toxic and non-biodegradable and widely exist in environmental ecosystems. It is necessary to develop a rapid, sensitive and convenient method for HMIs detection to provide a strong guarantee for ecology and human health. Ion-imprinted electrochemical sensors (IIECSs) based on nanomaterials have been regarded as an excellent technology because of the good selectivity, the advantages of fast detection speed, low cost, and portability. Electrode surfaces modified with nanomaterials can obtain excellent nano-effects, such as size effect, macroscopic quantum tunneling effect and surface effect, which greatly improve its surface area and conductivity, so as to improve the detection sensitivity and reduce the detection limit of the sensor. Hence, the present review focused on the fundamentals and the synthetic strategies of ion-imprinted polymers (IIPs) and IIECSs for HMIs detection, as well as the applications of various nanomaterials as modifiers and sensitizers in the construction of HMIIECSs and the influence on the sensing performance of the fabricated sensors. Finally, the potential challenges and outlook on the future development of the HMIIECSs technology were also highlighted. By means of the points presented in this review, we hope to provide some help in further developing the preparation methods of high-performance HMIIECSs and expanding their potential applications.

Application of Graphene and its Derivatives in Detecting Hazardous Substances in Food: A Comprehensive Review

Graphene and its derivatives have been a burning issue in the last 10 years. Although many reviews described its application in electrochemical detection, few were focused on food detection. Herein, we reviewed the recent progress in applying graphene and composite materials in food detection during the past 10 years. We pay attention to food coloring materials, pesticides, antibiotics, heavy metal ion residues, and other common hazards. The advantages of graphene composites in electrochemical detection are described in detail. The differences between electrochemical detection involving graphene and traditional inherent food detection are analyzed and compared in depth. The results proved that electrochemical food detection based on graphene composites is more beneficial. The current defects and deficiencies in graphene composite modified electrode development are discussed, and the application prospects and direction of graphene in future food detection are forecasted.