Applications of Advanced Electrochemical (Bio)sensors in Environment, Food, and Medicine

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosensor and Bioelectronic Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 5478

Special Issue Editors

School of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK
Interests: screen-printed electrodes; 3D-printing; stripping voltammetry; biosensors; chromatography; environmental, health, forensic and nanotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Interests: the application of electrochemical and (bio)sensors in plants
School of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK
Interests: screen printed electrode; sensor for health technology application; point of care instrument, environmental, and nanotechnology applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The environment, food and medicine are the three major fields most closely related to people's daily lives. With a population increasing and the pressures of economic development, there are more and more challenges facing these three fields; such as population growth; exerting pressure on environment quality, food production and the spread of diseases. Economic development has led to improved living conditions and stimulated demand for better food safety and health. Hence, sensor technology focused on environment protection, food quality control and medicine have become research hotspots. Electrochemical sensors and biosensors have been widely used in these three fields due to their excellent selectivity and sensitivity. They are small and portable, allowing them to be widely applied in both static and mobile platforms and for the possibility of use in the field, at the point-of-need.

This Special Issue is focused on the applications of advanced electrochemical (bio)sensors in fields of the environment, food, and medicine. It aims to provide a platform for the publication of original high-quality research papers covering the most recent advances in these areas, as well as comprehensive reviews on the application of both the electrochemical and non-electrochemical sensing and bio-sensing technologies in these fields. We invited a wide range of appropriate contributions and should covers any type of experimental, theoretical, numerical, and computational research in the areas of both electrochemical and non-electrochemical (bio) sensors in for environment, food, and medicine. This includes (but is not limited to) theoretical development, mathematical models, numerical algorithms, optimization, machine learning approaches, probabilistic and stochastic approaches, and computational methods. Discussions of electrochemical and nonelectrochemical sensors employing both classical and advanced techniques, based on enzymes, antibodies, DNA, aptamers, molecularly imprinted polymers, and the application of nanotechnology are also welcome.

Dr. Kevin C. Honeychurch
Dr. Yuhong Zheng
Dr. Martina Piano
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biosensors is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • electrochemical sensors
  • biosensors
  • food safety
  • food quality control
  • enviromental pollution monitoring
  • medicine
  • detection
  • analysis

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2040 KiB  
Article
Electrochemical Aptasensing Platform for the Detection of Retinol Binding Protein-4
by Kamila Malecka-Baturo, Paulina Żółtowska, Agnieszka Jackowska, Katarzyna Kurzątkowska-Adaszyńska and Iwona Grabowska
Biosensors 2024, 14(2), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios14020101 - 16 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1056
Abstract
Here, we present the results of our the electrochemical aptasensing strategy for retinol binding protein-4 (RBP-4) detection based on a thiolated aptamer against RBP-4 and 6-mercaptohexanol (MCH) directly immobilized on a gold electrode surface. The most important parameters affecting the magnitude of the [...] Read more.
Here, we present the results of our the electrochemical aptasensing strategy for retinol binding protein-4 (RBP-4) detection based on a thiolated aptamer against RBP-4 and 6-mercaptohexanol (MCH) directly immobilized on a gold electrode surface. The most important parameters affecting the magnitude of the analytical signal generated were optimized: (i) the presence of magnesium ions in the immobilization and measurement buffer, (ii) the concentration of aptamer in the immobilization solution and (iii) its folding procedure. In this work, a systematic assessment of the electrochemical parameters related to the optimization of the sensing layer of the aptasensor was carried out (electron transfer coefficients (α), electron transfer rate constants (k0) and surface coverage of the thiolated aptamer probe (ΓApt)). Then, under the optimized conditions, the analytical response towards RBP-4 protein, in the presence of an Fe(CN)63−/4− redox couple in the supporting solution was assessed. The proposed electrochemical strategy allowed for RBP-4 detection in the concentration range between 100 and 1000 ng/mL with a limit of detection equal to 44 ng/mL based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The specificity studies against other diabetes biomarkers, including vaspin and adiponectin, proved the selectivity of the proposed platform. These preliminary results will be used in the next step to miniaturize and test the sensor in real samples. Full article
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13 pages, 1496 KiB  
Article
Development of Taste Sensor with Lipid/Polymer Membranes for Detection of Umami Substances Using Surface Modification
by Wenhao Yuan, Zeyu Zhao, Shunsuke Kimura and Kiyoshi Toko
Biosensors 2024, 14(2), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios14020095 - 11 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1277
Abstract
A taste sensor employs various lipid/polymer membranes with specific physicochemical properties for taste classification and evaluation. However, phosphoric acid di(2-ethylhexyl) ester (PAEE), employed as one of the lipids for the taste sensors, exhibits insufficient selectivity for umami substances. The pH of sample solutions [...] Read more.
A taste sensor employs various lipid/polymer membranes with specific physicochemical properties for taste classification and evaluation. However, phosphoric acid di(2-ethylhexyl) ester (PAEE), employed as one of the lipids for the taste sensors, exhibits insufficient selectivity for umami substances. The pH of sample solutions impacts the dissociation of lipids to influence the membrane potential, and the response to astringent substances makes accurate measurement of umami taste difficult. This study aims to develop a novel taste sensor for detecting umami substances like monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) through surface modification, i.e., a methodology previously applied to taste sensors for non-charged bitter substance measurement. Four kinds of modifiers were tested as membrane-modifying materials. By comparing the results obtained from these modifiers, the modifier structure suitable for measuring umami substances was identified. The findings revealed that the presence of carboxyl groups at para-position of the benzene ring, as well as intramolecular H-bonds between the carboxyl group and hydroxyl group, significantly affect the effectiveness of a modifier in the umami substance measurement. The taste sensor treated with this type of modifier showed excellent selectivity for umami substances. Full article
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17 pages, 5352 KiB  
Article
An Electrochemical Screen-Printed Sensor Based on Gold-Nanoparticle-Decorated Reduced Graphene Oxide–Carbon Nanotubes Composites for the Determination of 17-β Estradiol
by Auwal M. Musa, Janice Kiely, Richard Luxton and Kevin C. Honeychurch
Biosensors 2023, 13(4), 491; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13040491 - 19 Apr 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2513 | Correction
Abstract
In this study, a screen-printed electrode (SPE) modified with gold-nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide–carbon nanotubes (rGO-AuNPs/CNT/SPE) was used for the determination of estradiol (E2). The AuNPs were produced through an eco-friendly method utilising plant extract, eliminating the need for severe chemicals, and remove the [...] Read more.
In this study, a screen-printed electrode (SPE) modified with gold-nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide–carbon nanotubes (rGO-AuNPs/CNT/SPE) was used for the determination of estradiol (E2). The AuNPs were produced through an eco-friendly method utilising plant extract, eliminating the need for severe chemicals, and remove the requirements of sophisticated fabrication methods and tedious procedures. In addition, rGO-AuNP serves as a dispersant for the CNT to improve the dispersion stability of CNTs. The composite material, rGO-AuNPs/CNT, underwent characterisation through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy (UV–vis), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The electrochemical performance of the modified SPE for estradiol oxidation was characterised using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) techniques. The rGO-AuNPs/CNT/SPE exhibited a notable improvement compared to bare/SPE and GO-CNT/SPE, as evidenced by the relative peak currents. Additionally, we employed a baseline correction algorithm to accurately adjust the sensor response while eliminating extraneous background components that are typically present in voltammetric experiments. The optimised estradiol sensor offers linear sensitivity from 0.05–1.00 µM, with a detection limit of 3 nM based on three times the standard deviation (3δ). Notably, this sensing approach yields stable, repeatable, and reproducible outcomes. Assessment of drinking water samples indicated an average recovery rate of 97.5% for samples enriched with E2 at concentrations as low as 0.5 µM%, accompanied by only a modest coefficient of variation (%CV) value of 2.7%. Full article
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