Recent advances in ZnO nanostructures and thin films for biosensor applications: Review

Biosensors have shown great potential for health care and environmental monitoring. The performance of biosensors depends on their components, among which the matrix material, i.e., the layer between the recognition layer of biomolecule and transducer, plays a crucial role in defining the stability, sensitivity and shelf-life of a biosensor. Recently, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures and thin films have attracted much interest as materials for biosensors due to their biocompatibility, chemical stability, high isoelectric point, electrochemical activity, high electron mobility, ease of synthesis by diverse methods and high surface-to-volume ratio. ZnO nanostructures have shown the binding of biomolecules in desired orientations with improved conformation and high biological activity, resulting in enhanced sensing characteristics. Furthermore, compatibility with complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology for constructing integrated circuits makes ZnO nanostructures suitable candidate for future small integrated biosensor devices. This review highlights recent advances in various approaches towards synthesis of ZnO nanostructures and thin films and their applications in biosensor technology.     

Influence of hole mobility on the response characteristics of p-type nickel oxide thin film based glucose biosensor

RF sputtered p-type nickel oxide (NiO) thin film exhibiting tunable semiconductor character which in turns enhanced its functional properties. NiO thin film with high hole mobility is developed as a potential matrix for the realization of glucose biosensor. NiO thin film prepared under the optimized deposition conditions offer good electrical conductivity (1.5 × 10⁻³ Ω⁻¹-cm⁻¹) with high hole mobility (2.8 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹). The bioelectrode (GO_x/NiO/ITO/glass) exhibits a low value of Michaelis–Menten constant (K_m = 1.05 mM), indicating high affinity of the immobilized GO_x toward the analyte (glucose). Due to the high surface coverage (2.32 × 10⁻⁷ mol cm⁻²) of the immobilized enzyme on to the NiO matrix and its high electrocatalytic activity, the prepared biosensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 0.1 mA (mM⁻¹-cm⁻²) and a good linearity from 25 to 300 mg dL⁻¹ of glucose concentration with fast response time of 5 s. Various functional properties of the material (mobility, crystallinity and stress) are found to influence the charge communication feature of NiO thin film matrix to a great extent, resulting in enhanced sensing response characteristics.     

Development and validation of a UV-spectrophotometric method for the determination of pheniramine maleate and its stability studies

A sensitive, precise, and cost-effective UV-spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of pheniramine maleate (PAM) in bulk drug and tablets. The method is based on the measurement of absorbance of a PAM solution in 0.1 N HCl at 264 nm. As per the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines, the method was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision, limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), and robustness and ruggedness. A linear relationship between absorbance and concentration of PAM in the range of 2–40 μg/ml with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9998 was obtained. The LOD and LOQ values were found to be 0.18 and 0.39 μg/ml PAM, respectively. The precision of the method was satisfactory: the value of relative standard deviation (RSD) did not exceed 3.47%. The proposed method was applied successfully to the determination of PAM in tablets with good accuracy and precision. Percentages of the label claims ranged from 101.8 to 102.01% with the standard deviation (SD) from 0.64 to 0.72%. The accuracy of the method was further ascertained by recovery studies via a standard addition procedure. In addition, the forced degradation of PAM was conducted in accordance with the ICH guidelines. Acidic and basic hydrolysis, thermal stress, peroxide, and photolytic degradation were used to assess the stability-indicating power of the method. A substantial degradation was observed during oxidative and alkaline degradations. No degradation was observed under other stress conditions.     

Mixed Ligand Complexes of Am3+, Cm3+ and Eu3+ with HEDTA and HEDTA + NTA—Complexation Thermodynamics and Structural Aspects

The stability constants and the associated thermodynamic parameters of formation for the 1:1 binary complexes of Am³⁺, Cm³⁺ and Eu³⁺ with N-(2-hydroxyethyl) ethylenediaminetriacetate (HEDTA) and their 1:1:1 ternary complexes with HEDTA + NTA (nitrilotriacate) were determined by distribution ratio measurements using solvent extraction in aqueous solutions of I=0.10?mol?L^?1 (NaClO₄) at temperatures of 0?C45?°C. Formation of these complexes is favored by both the enthalpy (exothermic) and the entropy (endothermic) terms. Luminescence lifetime measurements with Cm and Eu were used to study the coordination environment of these complexes over a range of concentrations and pH values. In the binary complexes M(HEDTA), HEDTA is a hexadentate ligand with three waters of hydration, while in the ternary complexes M(HEDTA)(NTA)^3? we propose that the HEDTA retaines hexadentate coordination with NTA binding via three sites, depending on the pH of the solution, with the observation that the complex may contain a single water of hydration.     

Titrimetric assay of ofloxacin in pharmaceuticals using cerium(IV) sulphate as an oxidimetric reagent

Two titrimetric methods which are simple, rapid, cost-effective and eco-riendly are described for the determination of ofloxacin (OFX) in bulk drug and in tablet formulations based on the oxidation of OFX by Ce(IV) sulphate. In direct titrimetry (method A), the acidified solution of OFX is titrated directly with Ce(IV) sulphate using ferroin as indicator, and indirect titrimetry (method B) involves the addition of known excess of Ce(IV) sulphate to an acidified solution of OFX followed by the determination of unreacted oxidant by back titration with ferrous ammonium sulphate (FAS) using the same ferroin indicator. In both the methods, the amount of Ce(IV) sulphate reacted corresponds to OFX concentration. Method A and method B permit the determination of OFX over the concentration range of 1.5?C15 mg in both the methods and the quantitation is based on a 1: 5 reaction stoichiometry (OFX: Ce (IV) sulphate). The methods were statistically evaluated by calculating percent relative error (% RE) for accuracy and percent relative standard deviation (% RSD) for precision, and were applied successfully to the determination of OFX in tablets with mean recoveries in the range of 96.50?C98.42%. No interference was observed from common additives found in pharmaceutical preparations. The accuracy and reliability of the methods were further ascertained by performing recovery tests s standard-addition technique.     

Non-aqueous and two-phase titrimetric assay of isoxsuprine hydrochloride in pharmaceuticals

Based on the nitrogenous base or quaternary ammonium moiety in isoxsuprine hydrochloride (ISX), two highly accurate and selective titrimetric methods are proposed f or the determination of ISX in spiked human urine, injection and tablets. Non-aqueous titration (Method A) involves removal of protonated amine using mercuric acetate for enhanced basic nitrogen prior to titration with perchloric acid in an acetic acid medium using crystal violet as indicator. Two-phase titration (Method B) is based on ion association complex formation between sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) and protonated amine of ISX at pH 2.5 in aqueous phase, end point being detected by change in dimethyl yellow color in chloroform layer. The methods are applicable over the concentration range 2.0–20.0 mg and 1.0–10.0 mg for method A and method B, respectively. Calculations are based on 1: 1 molar ratio, i.e., JSX: HClO₄ for method A and ISX: SLS for method B, owing to the presence of one nitrogen atom. Method A is applicable to the determination of ISX in tablets whereas method B is applicable to spiked human urine, injection and tablets. The methods are validated statistically by comparing the results with those of the reference method by applying the Student’s t-test and F-test. The accuracy was further ascertained by recovery studies via standard addition technique.     

Binomial and factorial congruences for Fq[t]

We present several elementary theorems, observations and questions related to the theme of congruences satisfied by binomial coefficients and factorials modulo primes (or prime powers) in the setting of polynomial ring over a finite field. When we look at the factorial of n or the binomial coefficient ‘n choose m’ in this setting, though the values are in a function field, n and m can be usual integers, polynomials or mixed. Thus there are several interesting analogs of the well-known theorems of Lucas, Wilson etc. with quite different proofs and new phenomena.     

Overlapping B3Π0u ← X1Σ g/+ and 1Π1u ← X1Σ g/+ non-radiative characteristic of Br2 vapour in the wavelength region 505–541 nm

The vibronic vapour phase photoacoustic spectrum of Br₂ in the wavelength region 505–541 nm (19796–18480 cm⁻¹) has been recorded using microphone as well as pump-probe method. Discrete vibronic bands superimposed on a monotonically increasing continuum background towards the dissociation limit results from the overlapping B ³Π _0u ^/+ ← X ¹Σ _g ^/+ and ¹Π_1u ← X ¹Σ _g ^/+ electronic transitions. Vibronic bands originating from υ″=0 have been used to estimate the relative rate of non-radiative relaxation as a function of the excited state B ³Π_0u vibrational quantum number υ′. A comparison with the optical absorption spectroscopy of Br₂ leads to the identification of three broad spectral regions between 505 and 541 nm (19796 and 18480 cm⁻¹) on the basis of different non-radiative relaxation processes.     

Lysinated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Carbohydrate Ligands as an Effective Nanocarrier for Targeted Doxorubicin Delivery to Breast Cancer Cells

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are elongated, hollow cylindrical nanotubes made of sp2 carbon. MWCNTs have attracted significant attention in the area of drug delivery due to their high drug-loading capacity and large surface area. Furthermore, they can be linked to bioactive ligands molecules via covalent and noncovalent bonds that allow for the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin. The majority of methodologies reported for the functionalization of MWCNTs for drug delivery are quite complex and use expensive linkers and ligands. In the present study, we report a simple, cost-effective approach for functionalizing MWCNTs with the carbohydrate ligands, galactose (GA), mannose (MA) and lactose (LA), using lysine as a linker. The doxorubicin (Dox)-loaded functionalized MWCNTs were characterized using FT-IR, NMR, Raman, XRD and FE-SEM. The drug–loaded MWCNTs were evaluated for drug loading, drug release and cell toxicity in vitro, in breast cancer cells. The results indicated that the carbohydrate-modified lysinated MWCNTs had greater Dox loading capacity, compared to carboxylated MWCNTs (COOHMWCNTs) and lysinated MWCNTs (LyMWCNTs). In vitro drug release experiments indicated that the carbohydrate functionalized LyMWCNTs had higher Dox release at pH 5.0, compared to the physiological pH of 7.4, over 120 h, indicating that they are suitable candidates for targeting the tumor microenvironment as a result of their sustained release profile of Dox. Doxorubicin-loaded galactosylated MWCNTs (Dox-GAMWCNTs) and doxorubicin loaded mannosylated MWCNTs (Dox-MAMWCNTs) had greater anticancer efficacy and cellular uptake, compared to doxorubicin–loaded lactosylated MWCNTs (Dox-LAMWCNTs) and pure Dox, in MDA-MB231 and MCF7 breast cancer cells. However, neither the ligand conjugated multiwall blank carbon nanotubes (GAMWCNTs, MAMWCNTs and LAMWCNTs) nor the lysinated multiwalled blank carbon nanotubes produced significant toxicity in the normal cells. Our results suggest that sugar-tethered multiwalled carbon nanotubes, especially the galactosylated (Dox-GAMWCNTs) and mannosylated (Dox-MAMWCNTs) formulations, may be used to improve the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs to breast cancer cells.     

Gluconic acid promoted cascade reactions of 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a] pyridine-3-carbaldehyde with cyclohexane-1,3-dione to create novel fused bisheterocycles

Here in, we described the synthesis of novel bisheterocycles imidazopyridine bearing xanthenedione by reacting various substituted 2-phenylimidazo [1,2-a] pyridine-3-carbaldehyde with cyclohexane-1,3-dione in gluconic acid aqueous solution (GAAS) via a tandem Knoevenagel followed by Michael, cyclization & tautomerization sequence. The use of GAAS in organic synthesis offers significant benefits like cost-effective, simple operation, reusable catalyst and green method. The reaction completed in 2–12?h to afford white stable solid compounds with very good yield. The structures of the compounds are confirmed by analyzing MS, IR, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectra. Further, the structure of compound 3?h was confirmed by XRD analysis.