Characterization of a Multi-responsive Magnetic Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Hydrogel and Its Application for DOX Delivery

Nanocomposite hydrogels are one of the most important types of biomaterials which can be used in many different applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering.Incorporation of nanoparticles within a hydrogel matrix can provide unique characteristics like remote stimulate and improved mechanical strength.In this study,the synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene oxide nanocomposite hydrogel has been studied.Nanocomposite hydrogel was synthesized using carboxymethyl cellulose as a natural base,acrylic acid as a comonomer,graphene oxide as a filler,ammonium persulfate as an initiator,and iron nanoparticles as a crosslinking agent.The effect of reaction variables such as the iron nanoparticles,graphene oxide,ammonium persulfate,and acrylic acid were examined to achieve a hydrogel with maximum absorbency.Doxorubicin,an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug,was loaded into this hydrogel and its release behaviors were examined in the phosphate buffer solutions with different pH values.The structure of the graphene oxide and the optimized hydrogel were confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy,Raman spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,and atomic force microscopy.     

Micro-droplet Trapping and Manipulation: Understanding Aerosol Better for a Healthier Environment

Understanding the physicochemical properties and heterogeneous processes of aerosols is key not only to elucidate the impacts of aerosols on the atmosphere and humans but also to exploit their further applications, especially for a healthier environment. Experiments that allow for spatially control of single aerosol particles and investigations on the fundamental properties and heterogeneous chemistry at the single-particle level have flourished during the last few decades, and significant breakthroughs in recent years promise better control and novel applications aimed at resolving key issues in aerosol science. Here we propose graphene oxide (GO) aerosols as prototype aerosols containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and GO can behave as two-dimensional surfactants which could modify the interfacial properties of aerosols. We describe the techniques of trapping single particles and furthermore the current status of the optical spectroscopy and chemistry of GO. The current applications of these single-particle trapping techniques are summarized and interesting future applications of GO aerosols are discussed.     

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence biosensing for the detection of prostate PC-3 cancer cells incorporating antibody as capture probe and ruthenium complex-labelled wheat germ agglutinin as signal probe

A highly selective and sensitive electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor for the detection of prostate PC-3 cancer cells was designed using a prostate specific antibody as a capture probe and ruthenium complex-labelled wheat germ agglutinin as a signal probe. The ECL biosensor was fabricated by covalently immobilising the capture probe on a graphene oxide-coated glassy carbon electrode. Target PC-3 cells were selectively captured on the surface of the biosensor, and then, the signal probe was bound with the captured PC-3 cells to form a sandwich. In the presence of tripropylamine, the ECL intensity of the sandwich biosensor was logarithmically directly proportion to the concentration of PC-3 cells over a range from 7.0 × 10² to 3.0 × 10⁴ cells mL⁻¹, with a detection limit of 2.6 × 10² cells mL⁻¹. The ECL biosensor was also applied to detect prostate specific antigen with a detection limit of 0.1 ng mL⁻¹. The high selectivity of the biosensor was demonstrated in comparison with that of a lectin-based biosensor. The strategy developed in this study may be a promising approach and could be extended to the design of ECL biosensors for highly sensitive and selective detection of other cancer-related cells or cancer biomarkers using different probes.     

Photovoltammetric behavior and photoelectrochemical determination of p-phenylenediamine on CdS quantum dots and graphene hybrid film

A photoelectroactive film composed of CdS quantum dots and graphene sheets (GS) was coated on F-doped SnO₂ (FTO) conducting glass for studying the electrochemical response of p-phenylenediamine (PPD) under photoirradiation. The result indicated that the cyclic voltammogram of PPD on CdS–GS hybrid film became sigmoidal in shape after exposed under visible light, due to the photoelectrocatalytic reaction. Such a photovoltammetric response was used to rapidly optimize the photoelectrocatalytic activity of hybrid films composed of different ratios of CdS to GS toward PPD. The influences of scan rate and pH on the photovoltammetric behavior of PPD on CdS–GS film revealed that although the controlled step for electrochemical process was not changed under photoirradiation, more electrons than protons might participate the photoelectrocatalytic process. Furthermore, the photoelectroactive CdS–GS hybrid film was explored for PPD determination based on the photocurrent response of film toward PPD. Under optimal conditions, the photocurrent signal on CdS–GS film was linearly proportional to the concentration of PPD ranging from 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 3.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹, with a detection limit (3S/N) of 4.3 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹. Our work based on CdS–GS hybrid film not only demonstrated a new facile photovoltammetric way to study the photoinduced electron transfer process of PPD, but also developed a sensitive photoelectrochemical strategy for PPD determination.     

Recent progress in applications of graphene oxide for gas sensing: A review

This paper is a review of the recent progress on gas sensors using graphene oxide (GO). GO is not a new material but its unique features have recently been of interest for gas sensing applications, and not just as an intermediate for reduced graphene oxide (RGO). Graphene and RGO have been well known gas-sensing materials, but GO is also an attractive sensing material that has been well studied these last few years. The functional groups on GO nanosheets play important roles in adsorbing gas molecules, and the electric or optical properties of GO materials change with exposure to certain gases. Addition of metal nanoparticles and metal oxide nanocomposites is an effective way to make GO materials selective and sensitive to analyte gases. In this paper, several applications of GO based sensors are summarized for detection of water vapor, NO₂, H₂, NH₃, H₂S, and organic vapors. Also binding energies of gas molecules onto graphene and the oxygenous functional groups are summarized, and problems and possible solutions are discussed for the GO-based gas sensors.     

Fluorescent determination of graphene quantum dots in water samples

This work presents a simple, fast and sensitive method for the preconcentration and quantification of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) in aqueous samples. GQDs are considered an object of analysis (analyte) not an analytical tool which is the most frequent situation in Analytical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. This approach is based on the preconcentration of graphene quantum dots on an anion exchange sorbent by solid phase extraction and their subsequent elution prior fluorimetric analysis of the solution containing graphene quantum dots. Parameters of the extraction procedure such as sample volume, type of solvent, sample pH, sample flow rate and elution conditions were investigated in order to achieve extraction efficiency. The limits of detection and quantification were 7.5 μg L⁻¹ and 25 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The precision for 200 μg L⁻¹, expressed as %RSD, was 2.8%. Recoveries percentages between 86.9 and 103.9% were obtained for two different concentration levels. Interferences from other nanoparticles were studied and no significant changes were observed at the concentration levels tested. Consequently, the optimized procedure has great potential to be applied to the determination of graphene quantum dots at trace levels in drinking and environmental waters.     

Toehold-mediated nonenzymatic amplification circuit on graphene oxide fluorescence switching platform for sensitive and homogeneous microRNA detection

A novel graphene oxide (GO) fluorescence switch-based homogenous system has been developed to solve two problems that are commonly encountered in conventional GO-based biosensors. First, with the assistance of toehold-mediated nonenzymatic amplification (TMNA), the sensitivity of this system greatly surpasses that of previously described GO-based biosensors, which are always limited to the nM range due to the lack of efficient signal amplification. Second, without enzymatic participation in amplification, the unreliability of detection resulting from nonspecific desorption of DNA probes on the GO surface by enzymatic protein can be avoided. Moreover, the interaction mechanism of the double-stranded TMNA products contains several single-stranded toeholds at two ends and GO has also been explored with combinations of atomic force microscopy imaging, zeta potential detection, and fluorescence assays. It has been shown that the hybrids can be anchored to the surface of GO through the end with more unpaired bases, and that the other end, which has weaker interaction with GO, can escape GO adsorption due to the robustness of the central dsDNA structures. We verified this GO fluorescence switch-based detection system by detecting microRNA 21, an overexpressed non-encoding gene in a variety of malignant cells. Rational design of the probes allowed the isothermal nonenzymatic reaction to achieve more than 100-fold amplification efficiency. The detection results showed that our strategy has a detection limit of 10 pM and a detection range of four orders of magnitude.     

Functionalization of Graphene Oxide with 3‐Mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and Its Electrocatalytic Activity in Aqueous Medium

In this work, a highly dispersed graphene oxide (GO) was successfully functionalized with 3‐mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTS) molecule by silanization method. The chemically generated GO and MPTS functionalized GO (MPTS‐GO) were structurally characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X‐ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X‐ray (EDAX), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV‐Vis) techniques. The MPTS‐GO is highly suspensable in water. The thermal and conductivity results for MPTS‐GO are significantly increased compared to GO. Moreover, glassy carbon electrode modified with MPTS‐GO hybrid (MPTS‐GO/GCE) was prepared by casting of the MPTS‐GO solution on GCE. The MPTS‐GO/GCE showed an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards methionine (Met). This was understood from the observed less positive oxidation potential and higher oxidation current when compared to bare GC electrode. The MPTS‐GO has excellent electrocatalytic activity, making it an ideal candidate for sensor applications.     

Real‐time electro‐diffusion method to discriminate carbon nanomaterials

We report both the experimental and theoretical insights of differential electro‐diffusion behavior of carbon nanomaterials (e.g. single wall, multiwall carbon nanotubes, and graphene). We thus discriminate one from the other in a soft gel system. The differential mobility of such material depends on their intrinsic properties, both extend and rate of migration bearing the discriminatory signature. The mobility analysis is made by a real time monitoring of the respective bands.     

Preparation and characterization of functionalized graphene oxide/carbon fiber/epoxy nanocomposites

Graphene oxide (GO) was functionalized using three different diamines, namely ethylenediamine (EDA), 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS) and p-phenylenediamine (PPD) to reinforce an epoxy adhesive, with the aim of improving the bonding strength of carbon fiber/epoxy composite. The chemical structure of the functionalized GO (FGO) nanosheets was characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and XRD. Hand lay-up, as a simple method, was applied for 3-ply composite fabrication. In the sample preparation, the fiber-to-resin ratio of 40:60 (w:w) and fiber orientations of 0°, 90°, and 0° were used. The GO and FGO nanoparticles were first dispersed in the epoxy resin, and then the GO and FGO reinforced epoxy (GO- or FGO-epoxy) were directly introduced into the carbon fiber layers to improve the mechanical properties. The GO and FGO contents varied in the range of 0.1–0.5 wt%. Results showed that the mechanical properties, in terms of tensile and flexural properties, were mainly dependent on the type of GO functionalization followed by the percentage of modified GO. As a result, both the tensile and flexural strengths are effectively enhanced by the FGOs addition. The tensile and flexural moduli are also increased by the FGO filling in the epoxy resin due to the excellent elastic modulus of FGO. The optimal FGO content for effectively improving the overall composite mechanical performance was found to be 0.3 wt%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the failure mechanism of carbon fibers pulled out from the epoxy matrix contributed to the enhancement of the mechanical performance of the epoxy. These results show that diamine FGOs can strengthen the interfacial bonding between the carbon fibers and the epoxy adhesive.