Simultaneous electrochemical measurement of metal and organic propellant constituents of gunshot residues

The simultaneous electrochemical measurement of heavy-metal and organic propellants relevant to gunshot residues (GSRs) is demonstrated. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and cyclic square-wave stripping voltammetry (C-SWV) are shown to detect, in a single run, common propellants, such as nitroglycerin (NG) and dinitrotoluene (DNT), along with the heavy metal constituents of GSR, antimony (Sb), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and barium (Ba). The voltammetric detection of the stabilizer diphenylamine (DPA) along with inorganic constituents has also been examined. The resulting electrochemical signatures combine -in a single voltammogram- the response for the various metals and organic species, based on the reduction and oxidation peaks of the constituents. Cyclic square-wave voltammetry at the glassy carbon electrode (GCE), involving an intermittent accumulation at the reversal potentials of -0.95 V (for Sb, Pb, DNT and NG) and -1.3 V (for Sb, Pb, Zn and DPA) is particularly useful to offer distinct electrochemical signatures for these constituents of GSR mixtures, compared to analogous cyclic voltammetric measurements. Simultaneous voltammetric measurements of barium (at thin-film Hg GCE) and DNT (at bare GCE) are also demonstrated in connection to intermittent accumulation at the reversal potential of -2.4 V. Such generation of unique, single-run, information-rich inorganic/organic electrochemical fingerprints holds considerable promise for 'on-the-spot' field identification of individuals firing a weapon, as desired for diverse forensic investigations.     

in vitro Selection of Aptamer for Imidacloprid Recognition as Model Analyte and Construction of a Water Analysis Platform

Pesticide use in agriculture is one of the threats to water safety. Therefore, detection of pesticide residues is crucial for human health. Compared to conventional chromatographic methods, aptasensors are promising tools for fast, cheap and sensitive detection of environmental contaminants. To the best of our knowledge, such an aptasensor has not been reported for imidacloprid (Imi) which is one of the most widely used pesticides. In order to meet this demand, we initially selected two novel aptamers designated as ‘Apta‐1’ and ‘Apta‐2’ by graphene oxide‐SELEX (GO‐SELEX) method. Then, these aptamers were used to fabricate the gold electrode‐based aptasensor platforms and characterized by using electrochemical methods such as cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as well as X‐Ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the limit of detection value of Apta‐1 based sensor for the Imi was found better than Apta‐2 based system, although linear ranges were similar. Based on that finding, Apta‐1 based system was further tested against possible interference molecules. The proposed platform was successfully used for detection of very low concentrations of Imi in the range of ng/mL. Thus, it eliminates the need for sample pre‐treatment and enables a practical analysis in real wastewater samples.     

Recent Advances in Electrochemical Sensors for Detecting Weapons of Mass Destruction. A Review

The detection of chemical warfare agents (CWA) has become a worldwide security concern in light of the many recent international threats utilizing nerve agents. Among a variety of detection methods that have been developed for CWA, electrochemical sensors offer the unrivaled merits of high sensitivity, specificity and operational simplicity. Recent insights into novel fabrication methodologies and electrochemical techniques have resulted in the demonstration of electrochemical sensors able to address many of the limitations of conventional methodologies. This article reviews recent advances and developments in the field of electrochemical biosensors based detection of nerve agent and their utility for decentralized threat detection. With continued innovations and attention to key challenges, it is expected that electrochemical sensors will play a pivotal role in the CWA detection scenario. This review concludes with the implications of the electrochemical sensing platforms along with future prospects and challenges.     

Disposable electrochemical biosensors.

The market for decentralized clinical testing is undergoing expansion. Electrochemical biosensors represent one approach to the different demands of this market. A range of sensing systems are described which use electrochemical techniques for the measurement of various analytes and which have been demonstrated to be applicable to the manufacturing methods required for single-use disposable tests.     

The Study of Electrochemical Characteristics of Methotrexate

In this paper, the electrochemical characteristics of methotrexate are studied by using different electrochemical methods at the mercury drop electrode. In Britton‐Robinson buffer solution (pH 9.20), a pair of redox peaks of methotrexate controlled by adsorption is obtained by cyclic voltammetry. The differential pulse voltammetry peak currents have a linear relationship with methotrexate concentrations in the range of 1.0 × 10^?;5 mol/L ～ 1.0 × 10^?;8 mol/L with a detection limit of 2.0 × 10^?;9 mol/L, which has been used in real sample analysis with satisfactory result. Moreover, the electrode reaction mechanism of the system was studied and the kinetic parameters were obtained too. The electrode reduction of MTX is a quasi‐reversible process with two electrons and two protons.     

Electronic Tongues Employing Electrochemical Sensors

This review presents recent advances concerning work with electronic tongues employing electroanalytical sensors. This new concept in the electroanalysis sensor field entails the use of chemical sensor arrays coupled with chemometric processing tools, as a mean to improve sensors performance. The revision is organized according to the electroanalytical technique used for transduction, namely: potentiometry, voltammetry/amperometry or electrochemical impedance. The significant use of biosensors, mainly enzyme‐based is also presented. Salient applications in real problem solving using electrochemical electronic tongues are commented.     

Fast Mapping of Gunshot Residues by Batch Injection Analysis with Anodic Stripping Voltammetry of Lead at the Hanging Mercury Drop Electrode

The forensic analysis of lead in gunshot residues (GSR) sampled on the hands of potential shooters is rendered faster, simpler and less expensive by a new batch injection analysis (BIA) method, based on differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). A simple “J” shaped adaptor was designed to direct the flux of the analyte injected with a micropipettor onto the hanging mercury drop electrode of any commercial electrode stand. Sampling methods for GSR were compared and lifting with adhesive tape was elected for field use. The tapes are glued on polyethylene screens and stored in capped vials. Sampling with multiple strips provides coarse mapping of the distribution of lead on the shooter's hands. After a dissolution/extraction step with chloroform/aqueous 0.10 mol L^?1 HCl, 100 μL of the aqueous phase are injected during 25 s for accumulation of lead on the HMDE at ?0.60 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). A detection limit of 20 ng/mL of Pb(II), outreaching for GSR analysis, is reached without oxygen removal, at a frequency of 20 injections per hour. Results for sequences of shootings with a revolver and a pistol are presented.     

Review: Carbon nanotube based electrochemical sensors for biomolecules

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been incorporated in electrochemical sensors to decrease overpotential and improve sensitivity. In this review, we focus on recent literature that describes how CNT-based electrochemical sensors are being developed to detect neurotransmitters, proteins, small molecules such as glucose, and DNA. Different types of electrochemical methods are used in these sensors including direct electrochemical detection with amperometry or voltammetry, indirect detection of an oxidation product using enzyme sensors, and detection of conductivity changes using CNT-field effect transistors (FETs). Future challenges for the field include miniaturizing sensors, developing methods to use only a specific nanotube allotrope, and simplifying manufacturing.     

Miniaturized Electrochemical Immunosensor for Label‐Free Detection of Growth Hormone

A miniaturized immunosensor was developed in connection with disposable screen‐printed carbon strips (SPCS) for the point‐of‐care detection of growth hormone. The performance of the miniaturized system was studied using growth hormone (GH) as the target protein and compared with a conventional electrochemical analyzer. The detection limit of 25 pg/mL was observed for GH in 20 µL sample volume, which indicated that this versatile platform can be easily adapted for decentralized electrochemical immunosensing of clinically important proteins.     

Electrochemical Sensing of Explosives

This article reviews recent advances in electrochemical sensing and detection of explosive substances. Escalating threats of terrorist activities and growing environmental concerns have generated major demands for innovative field‐deployable tools for detecting explosives in a fast, sensitive, reliable and simple manner. Field detection of explosive substances requires that a powerful analytical performance be coupled to miniaturized low‐cost instrumentation. Electrochemical devices offer attractive opportunities for addressing the growing explosive sensing needs. The advantages of electrochemical systems include high sensitivity and selectivity, speed, a wide linear range, compatibility with modern microfabrication techniques, minimal space and power requirements, and low‐cost instrumentation. The inherent electroactivity of nitroaromatic, nitramine and nitroester compounds makes them ideal candidates for electrochemical detection. Recent activity in various laboratories has led to the development of disposable sensor strips, novel electrode materials, submersible remote sensors, and electrochemical detectors for microchip (‘Lab‐on‐Chip’) devices for on‐site electrochemical detection of explosive substances. The attractive behavior of these electrochemical monitoring systems makes them very promising for addressing major security and environmental problems.     

Electrochemical analysis of organic compounds in solid-state: applications of voltammetry of immobilized microparticles in bioanalysis and cultural heritage science

Most of the advances in the electrochemical study of solid materials are due to the development and application of voltammetry of immobilized microparticles in several areas besides electroanalytical. The technique has been applied in the evaluation of solid-state electrochemical behavior of compounds, qualitative and semi-quantitative determinations, monitoring of products derived from specific reactions, authentication and discrimination of several samples, and as quality control analytical tool. Recently, the studies involving solid organic compounds in different areas, such as pharmaceutical, biomedical, food, and cultural heritage sciences, have emerged and deserved special attention. In this regard, this paper aims to review the state-of-the-art of voltammetry of immobilized microparticles applied to organic compound analysis in solid-state in several research fields, highlighting some technique features and their applications for different purposes.

     

Conducting Polymer/Ionic Liquid Composite Modified Carbon Paste Electrode for the Determination of Carbaryl in Real Samples

A new method has been described for carbaryl determination using a simple electrochemical sensor. The unique properties of poly‐pPhenylenediamine and ionic liquid were exploited to fabricate carbon paste electrode modified with composite based on conducting polymer/ionic liquid. Electrode surface characterization was performed by electrochemical methods (cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and by scanning electron microscopy. Differential pulse voltammetry was employed for the detection of carbaryl in acetate buffer solution. Different parameters affecting the carbaryl response were optimized such as ionic liquid amounts, cycle number of polymerization and monomer concentration, pH, and accumulation time. Under the optimum experimental conditions, a linear response was obtained between 0.5 and 200 μmol/L, with detection limit of 0.09 μmol/L. The developed sensor offered satisfactory results for carbaryl detection in spring water and fruit samples.     

Biometallization‐Based Electrochemical Magnetoimmunosensing Strategy for Avian Influenza A (H7N9) Virus Particle Detection

A highly sensitive electrochemical immunosensor for avian influenza A (H7N9) virus (H7N9 AIV) detection was proposed by using electrochemical magnetoimmunoassay coupled with biometallization and anodic stripping voltammetry. This strategy could accumulate the enzyme‐generated product on the surface of the magneto electrode by means of silver deposition, which amplified the detection signal about 80 times. The use of magnetic beads (MBs) and the magneto electrode could also amplify the detection signal. Furthermore, a bi‐electrode signal transduction system was introduced into this immunosensor, which is also beneficial to the immunoassay. A concentration as low as 0.011 ng mL^?1 of H7N9 AIV could be detected in about 1.5 h with good specificity. This study not only provides a simple and sensitive approach for virus detection but also offers an effective signal enhancement strategy for the development of highly sensitive MB‐based electrochemical immunoassays.     

Determination of some methylcarbamate insecticides by a.c. polarography and cyclic voltammetry

The study of adsorption-desorption phenomena represents an important extension to the range of organic compounds that can be determined by electrochemical methods. The present work has utilized this approach for the determination of a range of methylcarbamate insecticides. The tensammetric behaviour of this class of compound at the mercury electrode has been investigated by a.c. polarography and the optimum experimental conditions for their analytical determination have been derived. Cyclic voltammetry has also been used to study the electrode process and by using the peak obtained on the cathodic sweep it was possible to extend the limit of detection to the ppm level.     

Direct RP‐HPLC determination of underivatized amino acids with online dual UV absorbance,fluorescence, and multiple electrochemical detection

The combined use of a dual‐UV detector, a fluorimetric one and of a multiple electrochemical (EC) detector equipped with a dual electrode, consisting of a conventional size 3 mm diameter glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and of a pair of 30 μm thick carbon microfibers, is proposed for the determination of 15 amino acids, two dipeptides and creatinine. This online coupling of the above detection modes could partially replace amino acid analysis by derivatization methods, since it solves problems concerning the direct detection of selected underivatized amino acids. Additionally, it was proved that the use of multiple‐detection allows positive peak identification in a single chromatographic run, yields more information for free amino acids and solves in some cases the problem of chromatographic resolution. In order to optimize the detection conditions of the underivatized amino acids and related compounds by different detectors, their detection characteristics were determined by adequate preliminary experiments. The electro‐oxidation characteristics of the underivatized compounds of interest were determined by hydrodynamic voltammetry using a flow cell with a macrodisc GCE and by ex‐situ voltammetry using both a GCE of conventional size and a carbon fiber disk microelectrode. Important practical advantages of microfiber and microdisk electrodes with respect to macroelectrodes were demonstrated.     

Determination of Azidothymidine – an Antiproliferative and Virostatic Drug by Square‐Wave Voltammetry

The 3′‐azido‐3′‐deoxythymidine (AZT, Zidovudine) is an antiproliferative and virostatic drug widely used in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) infection treatment. With respect to side effects of high doses and a short half‐life of AZT, a fast and simple detection method for this agent could be helpful. The aim of our study was to determine AZT levels in natural samples (urine, serum, whole blood, and cell cultures, such as the HaCaT line of keratinocytes) without their mineralization and/or purification, by means of electrochemical methods using hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). On this electrode, AZT undergoes irreversible reduction at the peak potential near E_p?1.1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl/3 M KCl). Reduction AZT signals were measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), square‐wave voltammetry (SWV), and constant current chronopotentiometric stripping analysis (CPSA). In phosphate buffer (pH 8) the SWV yielded the best AZT signal with the detection limit of 1 nM. The determination of AZT concentration in biological materials is affected by electroactive components, such as proteins and DNA. For monitoring the influence of these compounds, AZT reduction was performed in the presence of 10 μg/mL calf thymus ssDNA and/or 100 μg/mL bovine serum albumin. In these cases, the detection limit increased to 0.25 μM. Also studied was the AZT concentration in keratinocyte cells (HaCaT line) during cell cultivation. It has been shown that the SWV may be considered as a useful tool for the determination of AZT concentration in cell cultures, and for monitoring AZT pharmacokinetics.     

Electrochemical Reduction of Hexachlorobenzene in Organic and Aquo‐Organic Media with Co(II)Salen as Catalyst

We studied the direct and indirect electrochemical reduction of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) by cyclic voltammetry in the presence of Co(II)Salen as catalyst in organic and aquo‐organic solutions. We also studied the degree of dechlorination of HCB by direct electrolysis under different experimental conditions (i.e., potential, organic‐water content, catalyst addition). Product analysis was performed by high‐pressure liquid chromatography using a UV detector (HPLC‐UV). The system containing the catalyst and water favors the HCB‐reduction kinetics and the generation of practically only 1,3‐dichlorobenzene, chlorobenzene, and benzene.     

Current methods of analysis for the determination of trichothecene mycotoxins in food

This article describes the trends in analytical techniques for the determination of trichothecene mycotoxins, namely deoxynivalenol, and T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cereals and cereal products with particular emphasis on screening and rapid approaches. The driving force behind the changing methodologies is mainly attributed to legislative demands. However, for commercial and governmental testing laboratories, the need to use validated official methods is ever increasing to ensure quality assurance of results.Much research has been undertaken to improve screening assays, highlighted by the number of new methods using a variety of formats and platforms, including optical and electrochemical biosensors. Significant advances in the traditional reference methods have also been demonstrated in addition to the emergence of a variety of commercial immunoaffinity and solid-phase extraction columns for clean up. The use of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry for mycotoxin detection is ever increasing, allowing simultaneous determination of many toxins in various sample matrices.     

Electroanalytical Determination of Lidocaine in Pharmaceutical Preparations Using Boron‐Doped Diamond Electrodes

A new electroanalytical procedure was developed for the determination of lidocaine in commercial local anesthetics products containing lidocaine as the active ingredient. The procedure is based on the use of electrochemical methods as cyclic and square‐wave voltammetry, with boron‐doped diamond electrodes. The oxidation of lidocaine in Britton–Robinson buffer (0.1 mol L^?1) using this type of electrode gives rise to one irreversible peak in 1.68 V (versus Ag/AgCl). The detection and quantification limits obtained from pure water were 10.0 and 34.4 μg/L, respectively. The proposed electrochemical method was also successfully applied to the analysis of commercially available pharmaceutical preparations. The electrochemical responses of pharmaceutical preparations (gels) were identical to those of standard lidocaine. No influence of propyleneglycol present in the gels on the voltammetric responses was observed. Lidocaine recoveries ranged from 97.6% to 99.2%.     

Highly Sensitive Electrochemical Sensor Based on Pt Doped NiO Nanoparticles/MWCNTs Nanocomposite Modified Electrode for Simultaneous Sensing of Piroxicam and Amlodipine

In this paper, a high‐sensitivity electrochemical sensor based on platinum (Pt) doped nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles and multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) modified glassy carbon electrode (Pt?NiO/MWCNTs/GCE) has been developed to determine piroxicam (PIR) and amlodipine (AML) simultaneously. The electrochemical behavior of PIR and AML at the proposed sensor has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and chronoamperometry (CA) methods. Pt doped NiO nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol‐gel procedure and were investigated using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques. DPV responses of PIR and AML increased linearly with their concentration in wide linear dynamic ranges of 0.6–320.0 μM and 1.0–250.0 μM, respectively. The limits of detection were 0.061 μM for PIR and 0.092 μM for AML. The excellent analytical figure of merits of the proposed modified electrode leads to application of it promising electrochemical sensor to determine PIR and AML in human serum and urine with satisfactory results.