MoSe2 Nanolabels for Electrochemical Immunoassays

An ultrasensitive ECL immunosensor with a dual signal amplification strategy using AuNPs@GO@SmMoSe2 and Gd2(MoO4)3 for estriol detection

BACKGROUND

Estriol (E3) is a common estrogen responsible for regulating the female reproductive system, but excessive amount can pose health risks to humans and wild life. Therefore, sensitive and accurate detection of estriol level is crucial. A novel competitive ECL immunosensor based on a dual signal amplification strategy of AuNPs@GO@SmMoSe2 and Gd2(MoO4)3 was fabricated for ultrasensitive detection of estriol. Graphene oxide (GO) increased the electric conductivity and surface area of SmMoSe2 and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) improved the electrochemical active sites of GO@SmMoSe2. In order to further amplify the ECL signals, Gd2(MoO4)3 with excellent electron transfer capability were used for binding E3-antigen (Ag). Then, Gd2(MoO4)3-Ag/BSA competed with Standard E3 for limited number of antibodies to construct a competitive ECL immunosensor.

RESULTS

Under optimized condition, the proposed competitive ECL immunosensor was used to detect various concentrations of Standard E3 samples. In addition, the proposed ECL immunosensor showed the high sensitivity for E3 detection in range between 0.001 and 500 ng/mL with the detection limit of 0.0073 ng/mL (S/N = 3). The wider linear range and lower detection limits of the proposed ECL immunosensor might be attributed to outstanding ECL properties of AuNPs@GO@SmMoSe2 and Gd2(MoO4)3 nanosheets. Furthermore, the proposed competitive ECL immunosensor was also compared with various detection methods. Based on above, the fabricated ECL immunosensor was employed for real sample analysis with acceptable RSD values and recoveries.

SIGNIFICANCE

A dual signal amplification strategy enhanced the potential of the well-prepared ECL immunosensor for detecting E3 samples in the real environment. Thereby, the successfully fabricated competitive ECL immunosensor with excellent electrochemical properties, long term storage stability, and high sensitivity and selectivity validated its potential application for environmental monitoring and analysis.

Electrochemical exfoliation of 2D materials beyond graphene

After the discovery of graphene in 2004, the field of atomically thin crystals has exploded with the discovery of thousands of 2-dimensional materials (2DMs) with unique electronic and optical properties, by making them very attractive for a broad range of applications, from electronics to energy storage and harvesting, and from sensing to biomedical applications. In order to integrate 2DMs into practical applications, it is crucial to develop mass scalable techniques providing crystals of high quality and in large yield. Electrochemical exfoliation is one of the most promising methods for producing 2DMs, as it enables quick and large-scale production of solution processable nanosheets with a thickness well below 10 layers and lateral size above 1 μm. Originally, this technique was developed for the production of graphene; however, in the last few years, this approach has been successfully extended to other 2DMs, such as transition metal dichalcogenides, black phosphorous, hexagonal boron nitride, MXenes and many other emerging 2D materials. This review first provides an introduction to the fundamentals of electrochemical exfoliation and then it discusses the production of each class of 2DMs, by introducing their properties and giving examples of applications. Finally, a summary and perspective are given to address some of the challenges in this research area.

Two-Dimensional Non-Carbon Materials-Based Electrochemical Printed Sensors: An Updated Review

Recently, there has been increasing interest in electrochemical printed sensors for a wide range of applications such as biomedical, pharmaceutical, food safety, and environmental fields. A major challenge is to obtain selective, sensitive, and reliable sensing platforms that can meet the stringent performance requirements of these application areas. Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials advances have accelerated the performance of electrochemical sensors towards more practical approaches. This review discusses the recent development of electrochemical printed sensors, with emphasis on the integration of non-carbon 2D materials as sensing platforms. A brief introduction to printed electrochemical sensors and electrochemical technique analysis are presented in the first section of this review. Subsequently, sensor surface functionalization and modification techniques including drop-casting, electrodeposition, and printing of functional ink are discussed. In the next section, we review recent insights into novel fabrication methodologies, electrochemical techniques, and sensors' performances of the most used transition metal dichalcogenides materials (such as MoS₂, MoSe₂, and WS₂), MXenes, and hexagonal boron-nitride (hBN). Finally, the challenges that are faced by electrochemical printed sensors are highlighted in the conclusion. This review is not only useful to provide insights for researchers that are currently working in the related area, but also instructive to the ones new to this field.

Template free-synthesis of cobalt-iron chalcogenides [Co0.8Fe0.2L2, L = S, Se] and their robust bifunctional electrocatalysis for the water splitting reaction and Cr(vi) reduction

The ease of production of materials and showing multiple applications are appealing in this modern era of advanced technology. This paper reports the synthesis of a pair of novel cobalt-iron chalcogenides [Co0.8Fe0.2S2 and Co0.8Fe0.2Se2] with enhanced electro catalytic activities. These ternary metal chalcogenides were synthesized by a one-step template-free approach via a hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS)-assisted synthetic method. Transient photocurrent (TPC) studies and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) of these materials showed free electron mobility. Their bifunctional activities were verified in both the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and in the electrochemical reduction of toxic inorganic heavy metal ions [Cr(vi)] in polluted water. The materials showed robust catalytic ability in the oxygen evolution reaction with minimum possible over potential (345 and 350 mV @ η10) as determined by linear sweep voltammetry and the lower Tafel values (52.4 and 84.5 mV dec-1) for Co0.8Fe0.2Se2 and Co0.8Fe0.2S2 respectively. Surprisingly, both the materials also showed an excellent activity towards electrochemical Cr(vi) reduction to Cr(iii). Besides the maximum current achieved for Co0.8Fe0.2S2, a minimum value for the Limit of detection (LOD) was obtained for Co0.8Fe0.2S2 (0.159 μg L-1) compared to Co0.8Fe0.2Se2 (0.196 μg L-1). We tested the durability of catalysts, the critical factor for the prolonged use of catalysts, through the recyclability measurements of these materials as catalysts. Both the catalysts presented outstanding durability and balanced electro catalytic activities for up to 1500 CV cycles, and chronoamperometry studies also confirmed exceptional stability. The enhanced catalytic activities of these materials are ascribed to the free electron movement, evidenced by the increased TPC measured and EIS. Therefore, the template-free synthesis of these electro catalysts containing non-noble metal illustrates the practical approach to develop such types of catalysts for multiple functions.

Two-dimensional materials in biomedical, biosensing and sensing applications

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are at the forefront of materials research. Here we overview their applications beyond graphene, such as transition metal dichalcogenides, monoelemental Xenes (including phosphorene and bismuthene), carbon nitrides, boron nitrides along with transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes). We discuss their usage in various biomedical and environmental monitoring applications, from biosensors to therapeutic treatment agents, their toxicity and their utility in chemical sensing. We highlight how a specific chemical, physical and optical property of 2D materials can influence the performance of bio/sensing, improve drug delivery and photo/thermal therapy as well as affect their toxicity. Such properties are determined by crystal phases electrical conductivity, degree of exfoliation, surface functionalization, strong photoluminescence, strong optical absorption in the near-infrared range and high photothermal conversion efficiency. This review conveys the great future of all the families of 2D materials, especially with the expanding 2D materials' landscape as new materials emerge such as germanene and silicene.

Bipolar Electrochemistry Exfoliation of Layered Metal Chalcogenides Sb2 S3 and Bi2 S3 and their Hydrogen Evolution Applications

Efficient exfoliation and downsizing of Sb₂ S₃ and Bi₂ S₃ layered compounds by using scalable bipolar electrochemistry on their suspensions in aqueous media are here demonstrated. The resulting samples were characterized in detail by transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; their electrochemistry toward hydrogen evolution was also investigated. Hydrogen evolution ability of exfoliated Sb₂ S₃ and Bi₂ S₃ was investigated and compared to the bulk counterparts.

WSe2 nanoparticles with enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction prepared by bipolar electrochemistry: application in competitive magneto-immunoassay

Among groups of layered nanomaterials, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are the most studied group, especially for their hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalytic activity and good stability in a highly corrosive environment. However, TMDs possess only low catalytic activity in the bulk form consisting of 2H phase, therefore, exfoliation must take place to enlarge the surface area and create new catalytically active sites (edges and defects). The most common exfoliation routes use organometallic reagents, such as tert-butyllithium (t-BuLi). Recently, bipolar electrochemistry (BE) was reported as a new efficient exfoliation and down-sizing technique applied on several layered materials. In this work, we used BE for further down-sizing of WSe2 micro-sheets, which were pre-exfoliated using tert-bulyllithium intercalator, down to nanoparticles (NPs). These WSe2 NPs outperformed t-BuLi exfoliated particles in terms of the overpotential needed for HER electrocatalysis. Moreover, WSe2 NPs were used effectively as a label for a competitive magneto-inmunoassay. This competitive magneto-immunoassay offers high selectivity with a wide linearity range, high sensitivity and a low limit of detection. We believe that such labels possess a great potential for bioassays.

Synthesis and Characterization of Samarium-Substituted Molybdenum Diselenide and Its Graphene Oxide Nanohybrid for Enhancing the Selective Sensing of Chloramphenicol in a Milk Sample

The electronic conductivity and electrocatalytic activity of metal chalcogenides are normally enhanced by following the ideal strategies such as substitution/doping of heterogeneous atoms and hybridization of highly conductive carbon supportive materials. Here, a rare earth element (samarium) was substituted with MoSe₂ using the simple hydrothermal method. The lattice distortion due to the substitution of Sm³⁺ with MoSe₂ was clearly observed by using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis. As a consequence, the prepared SmMoSe₂ nanorod was encapsulated with graphene oxide (GO) sheets by using ultrasonication process. Furthermore, the GO-encapsulated SmMoSe₂ nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode (GO@SmMoSe₂/GCE) was used for the sensing of chloramphenicol. The results showed that the GO@SmMoSe₂/GCE revealed the superior electrocatalytic activity with low detection (5 nM) and sensitivity (20.6 μA μM^-1 cm^-2) to electrochemical detection of proposed analyte. It indicates that the substitution of Sm³⁺ and encapsulation of GO significantly increased both the electrical conductivity and electrocatalytic activity of MoSe₂.

MoS2 Nanoparticles as Electrocatalytic Labels in Magneto-Immunoassays

Ability to detect biomolecules with a simple and cost-effective approach has been very demanding in today's medicine. The nanoparticles and two-dimensional materials have been extensively used within this field in devices with high selectivity and sensitivity. Here, we report the use of MoS₂ nanoparticles (MoS₂ NPs) as a signal-enhancing label in a standard immunoassay test. MoS₂ NPs were prepared by a bipolar electrochemistry method. The current response during the hydrogen evolution reaction catalyzed by MoS₂ was measured. This current was directly proportional to the amount of the MoS₂ NPs and thus also to the concentration of desired protein. The immunoassay containing the MoS₂ NPs displays extraordinary low limit of detection (1.94 pg mL^-1), good selectivity, and reproducibility. This MoS₂ NP detection system could have profound implication for analytical applications.

Nonconductive layered hexagonal boron nitride exfoliation by bipolar electrochemistry

Boron nitride (h-BN), which is an isoelectronic analogue of graphite, has received immense attention due to its unique physical and chemical properties. Numerous methods have been developed to isolate few-layered h-BN nanosheets. These include chemical vapour deposition, solution-based exfoliation and ball-milling amongst others. The bipolar electrochemical method is one of the popular, scalable and water based exfoliation methods which has been applied to graphite, layered transition metal dichalcogenides and black phosphorus. This method was not applied to insulators as this has been assumed to be an impossible task. In this study, we report a solution-based, scalable and time efficient bipolar electrochemical method for the direct exfoliation of bulk insulator, layered h-BN into few-layered h-BN nanosheets based on bipolar electrochemistry. The electrochemical exfoliation of nonconductive materials, h-BN, opens the way to the application of this scalable method to the whole spectrum of non-conductive layered materials. This facile method offers an alternative platform for h-BN electrochemical exfoliation in wide-ranging fields encompassing electronics and biomedical science.

Exfoliation of layered materials using electrochemistry

There is a tremendous interest towards 2D layered materials. Electrochemically-assisted exfoliation of bulk crystals represents one of the most promising methods of large production of graphene and other 2D material sheets.

Layer-Tunable Phosphorene Modulated by the Cation Insertion Rate as a Sodium-Storage Anode

Liquid phase exfoliation of few-layer phosphorene (FL-P) is extensively explored in recent years. Nevertheless, their deficiencies such as ultralong sonication time, limited flake size distribution, and uncontrollable thicknesses are major hurdles for the development of phosphorene-based materials. Herein, electrochemical cationic intercalation has been introduced to prepare phosphorene, through which large-area FL-P without surface functional groups can be efficiently attained (less than 1 h). More importantly, its layer number (from 2 to 11 layers) can be manipulated by changing the applied potential. The as-obtained phosphorene delivers superior sodium-storage performances when directly utilized as an anode material in sodium-ion batteries. This electrochemical cation insertion method to prepare phosphorene should greatly facilitate the development of phosphorene-based technologies. Moreover, this work provides the possibility for the scalable preparation of monolayer 2D materials by exploring intercalation ions. Additionally, the successful electrochemical exfoliation of phosphorene can promote the application of electrochemical exfoliation in other 2D materials.

2H → 1T Phase Change in Direct Synthesis of WS2 Nanosheets via Solution-Based Electrochemical Exfoliation and Their Catalytic Properties

Metallic 1T-WS₂ has various interesting properties such as increased density of catalytically active sites on both the basal planes and edges as well as metallic conductivity which allows it to be used in applications such as biosensing and energy devices. Hence, it is highly beneficial to develop a simple, efficient, and low-cost synthesis method of 1T-WS₂ nanosheets from commercially available bulk 2H-WS₂. In this study, we reported WS₂ nanosheets synthesized directly from bulk WS₂ via solution-based electrochemical exfoliation with bipolar electrodes and investigated their electrocatalytic performances toward hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions. We successfully synthesized WS₂ nanosheets of regular hexagonal symmetry with a 2H → 1T phase transition. This represents a novel method of producing 1T-WS₂ nanosheets from bulk 2H-WS₂ without compromising on its electrocatalytic properties.

Clinically Relevant Detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae with DNA-Antibody Nanostructures

Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) is a pathogenic bacterium and a major cause of community-acquired pneumonia that could be fatal if left untreated. Therefore, rapid and sensitive detection of SP is crucial to enable targeted treatment during SP infections. In this study, DNA tetrahedron (DNA TH) with a hollow structure is anchored on gold electrodes to construct an electrochemical immunosensor for rapid detection of pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) peptide and SP lysate from synthetic and actual human samples. This DNA nanostructure-based immunosensor displays excellent electrochemical activity toward PspA with a sensitive linear region from 0 to 8 ng/mL of PspA peptide and a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.218 ng/mL. In addition, this DNA-TH-based immunosensor exhibits good sensing performance toward SP lysate in a clinically relevant linear range from 5 to 100 CFU/mL with a LOD of 0.093 CFU/mL. Along with these attractive features, this electrochemical immunosensor is able to specifically recognize and detect the PspA peptide mixed with other physiologically relevant components like bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lipopolysaccharide. In addition, our sensor could detect SP lysate even when dispersed in BSA or Escherichia coli lysate. Lastly, uncultured samples from the nasal cavity, mouth, and axilla of a human subject could be successfully determined by this well-designed electrochemical immunosensor.