Innovative Integration of Phase-Change Microcapsules with Metal-Organic Frameworks into an Intelligent Biosensing System for Enhancing Dopamine Detection

Recent progress in nanomaterial-based electrochemical biosensors for hydrogen peroxide detection & their biological applications

The electrochemical biosensor has brought a paradigm shift in the field of sensing due to its fast response and easy operability. The performance of electrochemical sensors can be modified by coupling them with various metal oxides, nanomaterials, and nanocomposites. Hydrogen peroxide is a short-lived reactive oxygen species that plays a crucial role in various physiological and biological processes. Therefore, its monitoring is of paramount importance. With this, the research fraternity has developed various nanomaterial-based superlative sensors that have enhanced the sensing performance towards H2O2 in terms of sensitivity, detection limit, and linear range. The integration of nanocomposite materials has allowed for the synergistic combination of different components, leading to improved sensor stability, selectivity, and detection limits. The precious metal alloys, metal oxides, semiconductor nanomaterials, carbon cloth, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide, and nanoparticles demonstrate effective catalytic performance for detecting H2O2 electrochemically. These advanced materials possess extraordinary properties and structures, rendering them highly advantageous for diverse applications. These biosensors aid in monitoring H2O2 levels secreted by MCF-7, HeLa cells, NIH-3T3, and A549 cells in real-time. Further, this type of biosensor identified alterations in H2O2 levels in the lungs, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of mice with pulmonary fibrosis, activated hepatic stellate cells, and the livers of mice with liver fibrosis. The current review highlights the recent advancements in compositions, morphology, limit of detection, sensitivity, biological applications, etc. properties of the electrochemical biosensors for H2O2 detection.

MOF-Based Bioelectronic Supercapacitors

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent a highly promising material class for bioelectronic supercapacitors, characterized by their adjustable structures, extensive surface areas, and superior electrochemical properties. This research explores the synthesis and incorporation of MOF-based materials into bioelectronic devices aimed at energy storage and biosensing applications. The focus is on improving the electrochemical performance of MOFs while preserving their structural integrity through functionalization with biocompatible polymers and conductive materials. The resulting MOF-based bioelectronic supercapacitors exhibit significant improvements in specific capacitance, energy density, and cycling stability. Additionally, the inclusion of bioreceptors allows for the simultaneous detection of biochemical signals alongside energy storage, thus enabling innovative applications in wearable electronics and health monitoring systems. These results suggest that MOF-based supercapacitors have the capacity to fulfill energy storage needs while also advancing bioelectronics by merging energy and sensing capabilities.

Novel interfaces for internet of wearable electrochemical sensors

The integration of wearable devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced sensing platforms implies a significant paradigm shift in technological innovations and human interactions. The IoT technology allows continuous monitoring in real time. Thus, Internet of Wearables has made remarkable strides, especially in the field of medical monitoring. IoT-enabled wearable systems assist in early disease detection that facilitates personalized interventions and proactive healthcare management, thereby empowering individuals to take charge of their wellbeing. Until now, physical sensors have been successfully integrated into wearable devices for physical activity monitoring. However, obtaining biochemical information poses challenges in the contexts of fabrication compatibility and shorter operation lifetimes. IoT-based electrochemical wearable sensors allow real-time acquisition of data and interpretation of biomolecular information corresponding to biomarkers, viruses, bacteria and metabolites, extending the diagnostic capabilities beyond physical activity tracking. Thus, critical heath parameters such as glucose levels, blood pressure and cardiac rhythm may be monitored by these devices regardless of location and time. This work presents versatile electrochemical sensing devices across different disciplines, including but not limited to sports, safety and wellbeing by using IoT. It also discusses the detection principles for biomarkers and biofluid monitoring, and their integration into devices and advancements in sensing interfaces.

Covalent immobilization of α-amylase on hollow metal organic framework coated magnetic phase-change microcapsules for the improvement of its thermostability

Exploring efficient immobilized carrier for α-Amylase (α-Amy) to enhance its thermostability has significant influence in starch related industry. Here, hollow ZIF-8 (HZIF-8) with amino groups coated magnetic phase change microcapsules (PCM) was designed for covalent immobilization of α-Amy. Magnetic PCM consisting n-docosane core and SiO2/Fe3O4 hybrid shell were firstly synthesized. Then, HZIF-8 shell with amino groups was coated and α-Amy was subsequently immobilized through covalent cross-linking strategy. The morphology, chemical structure and magnetic property of PCM@HZIF-8@α-Amy (PCMHA) were comprehensively characterized. Moreover, heat control property of PCMHA was studied with encapsulation efficiency and thermal energy-storage efficiency of 50.55 % and 50.59 %, respectively. Catalytic activity of immobilized α-Amy was fully investigated with Km and Vmax of 2.773 mg/mL and 1.853 μmol/mL·min, respectively. From reusability and storage stability study, immobilized α-Amy not only maintained rather high activity after 9 cycles' reuse, but also exhibited good activity under high salt ion condition after 7 days.

Recent research progress of selenotungstate-based biomolecular sensing materials

Polyoxometalates (POMs) have drawn significant attention on account of their structural designability, compositional diversity and great potential applications. As an indispensable branch of POMs, selenotungstates (SeTs) have been synthesized extensively. Some SeTs have been applied as sensing materials for detecting biomarkers (e.g., metabolites, hormones, cancer markers). To gain a comprehensive understanding of advancements in SeT-based sensing materials, we present an overview that encapsulates the sensing performances and mechanisms of SeT-based biosensors. SeT-based biosensors are categorized into electrochemical catalytic biosensors, electrochemical affinity biosensors, "turn-off" fluorescence biosensors and "turn-on" fluorescence biosensors. We anticipate the expansive potential of SeT-based biosensors in wearable and implantable sensing technologies, which promises to catalyze significant breakthroughs in SeT-based biosensors.

Efficient Photothermal Anti-/Deicing Enabled by 3D Cu2-x S Encapsulated Phase Change Materials Mixed Superhydrophobic Coatings

Photothermal superhydrophobic surfaces are one of the most promising anti-/deicing materials, yet they are limited by the low energy density and intermittent nature of solar energy. Here, a coupling solution based on microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs) that integrates photothermal effect and phase change thermal storage is proposed. Dual-shell octahedral MPCMs with Cu2 O as the first layer and 3D Cu2-x S as the second layer for the first time is designed. By morphology and phase manipulation of the Cu2-x S shell, the local surface plasmonic heating modulation of MPCMs is realized, and the MPCM reveals full-spectrum high absorption with a photothermal conversion efficiency up to 96.1%. The phase change temperature and enthalpy remain in good consistency after 200 cycles. Multifunctional photothermal phase-change superhydrophobic composite coatings are fabricated by combining the hydrolyzed and polycondensation products of octadecyl trichlorosilane and the dual-shell MPCM. The multifunctional coatings exhibit excellent anti-/deicing performance under low temperature and high humidity conditions. This work not only provides a new approach for the design of high-performance MPCMs but also opens up an avenue for the anti-icing application of photothermal phase-change superhydrophobic composite coatings.

Vein-Like Ni-BTC@Ni3S4 with Sulfur Vacancy and Ni3+ Fabricated In Situ Etching Vulcanization Strategy for an Electrochemical Sensor of Dopamine

In this study, a novel Ni-BTC@Ni₃S₄ composite was fabricated by solvothermal reaction using an in situ etching vulcanization strategy and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analyses. The existence of a sulfur vacancy and Ni³⁺ in the as-prepared vein-like Ni-BTC@Ni₃S₄ greatly promoted the electrochemical sensing activity of the materials. Herein, a simple electrochemical sensor (Ni-BTC@Ni₃S₄/CPE) has been fabricated and used for the detection of dopamine (DA). The current signal of the Ni-BTC@Ni₃S₄/CPE-modified electrode was linear with the concentration of DA in the range of 0.05-750 μM (R² = 0.9995) with a sensitivity of 560.27 μA·mM^-1·cm^-2 and a detection limit of 0.016 μM. At the same time, the sensor has good stability and anti-interference ability. This study could provide a new idea and strategy for the structural regulation of composite electrode-modified materials and sensitive sensing detection of small biological molecules.

Cholesterol oxidase-immobilized MXene/sodium alginate/silica@n-docosane hierarchical microcapsules for ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensing detection of cholesterol

Electrochemical biosensors usually suffer from the deterioration of detection sensitivity and determination accuracy in a high-temperature environment due to protein denaturation and inactivation of their biological recognition elements such as enzymes. Focusing on an effective solution to this crucial issue, we have developed cholesterol oxidase-immobilized MXene/sodium alginate/silica@n-docosane hierarchical microcapsules as a thermoregulatory electrode material for electrochemical biosensors to meet the requirement of ultrasensitive detection of cholesterol at high temperature. The microcapsules were first fabricated by microencapsulating n-docosane as a phase change material (PCM) in a silica shell, followed by depositing a biocompatible sodium alginate layer, wrapping with electroactive MXene nanosheets and then immobilizing cholesterol oxidase as a biological recognition element for electrochemical biosensing. The fabricated composites not only exhibited a layer-by-layer hierarchical microstructure with the desired chemical and biological components, but also obtained a high latent-heat capacity of over 133 J g^-1 for thermal management through reversible phase transitions of its PCM core. A bare glassy carbon electrode was modified with the developed composites to serve for the cholesterol biosensor. This enables the modified electrode to obtain an in situ thermoregulatory ability to regulate the microenvironmental temperature surrounding the electrode, effectively preventing the protein denaturation of cholesterol oxidase and minimizing heat impact on biosensing performance. Compared to conventional cholesterol biosensors without a PCM, the developed biosensor achieved a higher sensitivity of 4.63 μA μM^-1 cm^-2 and a lower limit of detection of 0.081 μM at high temperature, providing highly accurate and reliable detection of cholesterol for real biological samples over a wide temperature range.

Electrostatic potential-derived charge: a universal OER performance descriptor for MOFs

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provide opportunities for the design of high-efficiency catalysts attributed to their high compositional and structural tunability. Meanwhile, the huge number of MOFs poses a great challenge to experimental-intensive development of high-performance functional applications. By taking the computationally feasible and structurally representative trigonal prismatic secondary building units (SBUs) of MOFs as the entry point, we introduce a descriptor-based approach for designing high-performance MOFs for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The electrostatic potential-derived charge (ESPC) is identified as a robust and universal OER performance descriptor of MOFs, showing a distinct linear relationship with the onset potentials of OER elemental steps. Importantly, we establish an ESPC-based physical pattern of active site-intermediate binding strength, which interprets the rationality of ESPC as an OER performance descriptor. We further reveal that the SBUs with Ni/Cu as active site atoms while Mn/Fe/Co/Ni as spectator atoms have excellent OER activity through the variation pattern of ESPC along with metal composition. The universal correlation between ESPC and OER activity provides a rational rule for designing high-performance MOF-based OER electrocatalysts and can be easily extended to design functional MOFs for a rich variety of catalytic applications.

Immobilizing diamine oxidase on electroactive phase-change microcapsules to construct thermoregulatory smart biosensor for enhancing detection of histamine in foods

Aiming at enhancing the biosensing detection of histamine in foods at high temperature, we developed a thermoregulatory biosensor based on diamine oxidase-immobilized phase-change microcapsules consisting of an n-docosane core, a TiO₂ shell, and an electroactive polyaniline/ZnO composite coating layer. The microcapsules exhibit a satisfactory latent heat capacity of over 112 J/g for thermo-temperature regulation. Through an innovative integration of electroactive phase-change microcapsules and biological enzyme in the working electrode, the biosensor obtained a thermoregulatory function through reversible phase transitions by the n-docosane core under high-temperature environments. This enables the biosensor to achieve a higher response sensitivity of 28.57 µA⋅mM^-1⋅cm^-2 and a lower detection limit of 0.473 µmol/L at the high assay temperatures compared to conventional histamine biosensors. With enhanced electrochemical biosensing performance through in-situ thermo-temperature regulation, the smart biosensor developed in this study has found practical applications for high-sensitive detection and high-accurate quantitive determination of histamine in foods across a broad temperature range.

A Comprehensive Review of Metal-Organic Framework: Synthesis, Characterization, and Investigation of Their Application in Electrochemical Biosensors for Biomedical Analysis

Many studies have addressed electrochemical biosensors because of their simple synthesis process, adjustability, simplification, manipulation of materials' compositions and features, and wide ranges of detection of different kinds of biomedical analytes. Performant electrochemical biosensors can be achieved by selecting materials that enable faster electron transfer, larger surface areas, very good electrocatalytic activities, and numerous sites for bioconjugation. Several studies have been conducted on the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as electrode modifiers for electrochemical biosensing applications because of their respective acceptable properties and effectiveness. Nonetheless, researchers face challenges in designing and preparing MOFs that exhibit higher stability, sensitivity, and selectivity to detect biomedical analytes. The present review explains the synthesis and description of MOFs, and their relative uses as biosensors in the healthcare sector by dealing with the biosensors for drugs, biomolecules, as well as biomarkers with smaller molecular weight, proteins, and infectious disease.

Microfluidic Production of Monodisperse Biopolymer Microcapsules for Latent Heat Storage

Microencapsulation of phase change materials in a polymer shell is a promising technology to prevent them from leakage and to use them as a handleable powder state. However, the microencapsulation process is a time-consuming process because the typical shell-forming step requires polymerization or evaporation of the solvent. In this study, we report a simple and rapid flow process to prepare monodisperse biocompatible cellulose acetate (CA) microcapsules encapsulating n-hexadecane (HD) for latent heat storage applications. The microcapsules were prepared by combining microfluidic droplet formation and subsequent rapid solvent removal from the droplets by solvent diffusion. The diameter and shell thickness of the microcapsules could be controlled by adjusting the flow rate and the HD-to-CA weight ratio in the dispersed phase. We found that 1-hexadecanol added to the microcapsules played the role of a nucleation agent and mitigated the supercooling phenomenon during crystallization. Furthermore, cross-linking of the CA shell with poly(propylene glycol), tolylene 2,4-diisocyanate terminated, resulted in the formation of a thin and dense shell. The microcapsules exhibited a 66 wt % encapsulation efficiency and a 176 J g^-1 latent heat storage capacity, with negligible supercooling. We believe that this microflow process can contribute to the preparation of environmentally friendly microcapsules for heat storage applications.

Recent Advances in Metal-Organic Framework-Based Electrochemical Biosensing Applications

In the face of complex environments, considerable effort has been made to accomplish sensitive, accurate and highly-effective detection of target analytes. Given the versatility of metal clusters and ligands, high porosity and large specific surface area, metal–organic framework (MOF) provides researchers with prospective solutions for the construction of biosensing platforms. Combined with the benefits of electrochemistry method such as fast response, low cost and simple operation, the untapped applications of MOF for biosensors are worthy to be exploited. Therefore, this review briefly summarizes the preparation methods of electroactive MOF, including synthesize with electroactive ligands/metal ions, functionalization of MOF with biomolecules and modification for MOF composites. Moreover, recent biosensing applications are highlighted in terms of small biomolecules, biomacromolecules, and pathogenic cells. We conclude with a discussion of future challenges and prospects in the field. It aims to offer researchers inspiration to address the issues appropriately in further investigations.

Molecular Engineered Carbon-Based Sensor for Ultrafast and Specific Detection of Neurotransmitters

In the quest for designing affordable diagnostic devices with high performance, precisely functionalized carbon-based materials with high accuracy and selectivity are required. Every material has its own unique ability to interact with the analyte, and its performance can be enhanced by probing the interaction mechanism. Herein, p-aminophenol (PAP)-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanoscale material is developed by a one-step synthetic route as an all-organic-based sensor. As the PAP molecules are precisely covalently interacted with the rGO at the basal plane and form a wrinkled-paper-like structure, the functionalized material exhibits an outstanding sensing ability (7.5 nM neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) at a wide linear range, 0.01-100 μM) with fast electrical transduction (<3 s) and good recyclability (∼10 cycles) in a real sample. Combining various analytical and density functional theory (DFT) calculation methods, physicochemical properties and the interaction mechanism of analyte-materials transduction are discussed exclusively. Besides, the potential application of the well-dispersed rGO-PAP gravure ink in flexible-printed electronics fields is explored. This study not only provides new insights into the surface/interface chemistry and working principle of this unique anchoring of PAP on rGO but also offers a new pathway for developing other forms of metal-free/organic functionalized biosensors with high efficiency.