In this paper, we show that the possibility of using polyethylene glycol (EG) as a hydrogen source and it is used to assist the hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanorods (ZNRs). EG doping in ZNRs has been found to significantly improve their optical and chemical sensing characteristics toward glutamate. The EG was found to have no role on the structural properties of the ZNRs. However, the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggests that the EG could induce donor impurities effect in ZnO. Photoluminescence (PL) and UV-Vis. spectra demonstrated this doping effect. Mott-Schottky analysis at the ZNRs/electrolyte interface was used to investigate the charge density for the doped ZNRs and showed comparable dependence on the used amount of EG. Moreover, the doped ZNRs were used in potentiometric measurements for glutamate for a range from 10⁻⁶ M to 10⁻³ M and the potential response of the sensor electrode was linear with a slope of 91.15 mV/decade. The wide range and high sensitivity of the modified ZNRs based glutamate biosensor is attributed to the doping effect on the ZNRs that is dictated by the EG along with the high surface area-to-volume ratio. The findings in the present study suggest new avenues to control the growth of n-ZnO nanostructures and enhance the performance of their sensing devices. Full article

The concept of recognition and biofunctionality has attracted increasing interest in the fields of chemistry and material sciences. Advances in the field of nanotechnology for the synthesis of desired metal oxide nanostructures have provided a solid platform for the integration of nanoelectronic devices. These nanoelectronics-based devices have the ability to recognize molecular species of living organisms, and they have created the possibility for advanced chemical sensing functionalities with low limits of detection in the nanomolar range. In this review, various metal oxides, such as ZnO-, CuO-, and NiO-based nanosensors, are described using different methods (receptors) of functionalization for molecular and ion recognition. These functionalized metal oxide surfaces with a specific receptor involve either a complex formation between the receptor and the analyte or an electrostatic interaction during the chemical sensing of analytes. Metal oxide nanostructures are considered revolutionary nanomaterials that have a specific surface for the immobilization of biomolecules with much needed orientation, good conformation and enhanced biological activity which further improve the sensing properties of nanosensors. Metal oxide nanostructures are associated with certain unique optical, electrical and molecular characteristics in addition to unique functionalities and surface charge features which shows attractive platforms for interfacing biorecognition elements with effective transducing properties for signal amplification. There is a great opportunity in the near future for metal oxide nanostructure-based miniaturization and the development of engineering sensor devices. Full article

In this study, by taking the advantage of both inorganic ZnO nanoparticles and the organic material chitosan as a composite seed layer, we have fabricated well-aligned ZnO nanorods on a gold-coated glass substrate using the hydrothermal growth method. The ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by the Raman spectroscopic techniques, which showed the nanocrystalline phase of the ZnO nanoparticles. Different composites of ZnO nanoparticles and chitosan were prepared and used as a seed layer for the fabrication of well-aligned ZnO nanorods. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopic techniques were utilized for the structural characterization of the ZnO nanoparticles/chitosan seed layer-coated ZnO nanorods on a gold-coated glass substrate. This study has shown that the ZnO nanorods are well-aligned, uniform, and dense, exhibit the wurtzite hexagonal structure, and are perpendicularly oriented to the substrate. Moreover, the ZnO nanorods are only composed of Zn and O atoms. An optical study was also carried out for the ZnO nanoparticles/chitosan seed layer-coated ZnO nanorods, and the obtained results have shown that the fabricated ZnO nanorods exhibit good crystal quality. This study has provided a cheap fabrication method for the controlled morphology and good alignment of ZnO nanorods, which is of high demand for enhancing the working performance of optoelectronic devices. Full article

Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide cationic (CTAB) surfactant was used as template for the synthesis of nanoclusters of ZnS composed of nanowires, by hydrothermal method. The structural and morphological studies were performed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques. The synthesized ZnS nanoclusters are composed of nanowires and high yield on the substrate was observed. The ZnS nanocrystalline consists of hexagonal phase and polycrystalline in nature. The chemical composition of ZnS nanoclusters composed of nanowires was studied by X-ray photo electron microscopy (XPS). This investigation has shown that the ZnS nanoclusters are composed of Zn and S atoms. Full article

Well aligned ZnO nanorods have been prepared by a low temperature aqueous chemical growth method, using a biocomposite seed layer of ZnO nanoparticles prepared in starch and cellulose bio polymers. The effect of different concentrations of biocomposite seed layer on the alignment of ZnO nanorods has been investigated. ZnO nanorods grown on a gold-coated glass substrate have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques. These techniques have shown that the ZnO nanorods are well aligned and perpendicular to the substrate, and grown with a high density and uniformity on the substrate. Moreover, ZnO nanorods can be grown with an orientation along the c-axis of the substrate and exhibit a wurtzite crystal structure with a dominant (002) peak in an XRD spectrum and possessed a high crystal quality. A photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy study of the ZnO nanorods has revealed a conventional near band edge ultraviolet emission, along with emission in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum due to defect emission. This study provides an alternative method for the fabrication of well aligned ZnO nanorods. This method can be helpful in improving the performance of devices where alignment plays a significant role. Full article

In this study, we have developed a sensitive and selective glucose sensor using novel CuO nanosheets which were grown on a gold coated glass substrate by a low temperature growth method. X-ray differaction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used for the structural characterization of CuO nanostructures. CuO nanosheets are highly dense, uniform, and exhibited good crystalline array structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique was applied for the study of chemical composition of CuO nanosheets and the obtained information demonstrated pure phase CuO nanosheets. The novel CuO nanosheets were employed for the development of a sensitive and selective non-enzymatic glucose sensor. The measured sensitivity and a correlation coefficient are in order 5.20 × 10² µA/mMcm² and 0.998, respectively. The proposed sensor is associated with several advantages such as low cost, simplicity, high stability, reproducibility and selectivity for the quick detection of glucose. Full article

In this research work, ZnO nanotubes were fabricated on a gold coated glass substrate through chemical etching by the aqueous chemical growth method. For the first time a nanostructure-based iodide ion selective electrode was developed. The ZnO nanotubes were functionalized with miconazole ion exchanger and the electromotive force (EMF) was measured by the potentiometric method. The iodide ion sensor exhibited a linear response over a wide range of concentrations (1 × 10⁻⁶ to 1 × 10⁻¹ M) and excellent sensitivity of –62 ± 1 mV/decade. The detection limit of the proposed sensor was found to be 5 × 10⁻⁷ M. The effects of pH, temperature, additive, plasticizer and stabilizer on the potential response of iodide ion selective electrode were also studied. The proposed iodide ion sensor demonstrated a fast response time of less than 5 s and high selectivity against common organic and the inorganic anions. All the obtained results revealed that the iodide ion sensor based on functionalized ZnO nanotubes may be used for the detection of iodide ion in environmental water samples, pharmaceutical products and other real samples. Full article

A potentiometric glucose biosensor based on immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOD) on ZnO nanorods (ZnO-NRs) has been developed for the indirect determination of environmental mercury ions. The ZnO-NRs were grown on a gold coated glass substrate by using the low temperature aqueous chemical growth (ACG) approach. Glucose oxidase in conjunction with a chitosan membrane and a glutaraldehyde (GA) were immobilized on the surface of the ZnO-NRs using a simple physical adsorption method and then used as a potentiometric working electrode. The potential response of the biosensor between the working electrode and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode was measured in a 1mM phosphate buffer solution (PBS). The detection limit of the mercury ion sensor was found to be 0.5 nM. The experimental results provide two linear ranges of the inhibition from 0.5 × 10⁻⁶ mM to 0.5 × 10⁻⁴ mM, and from 0.5 × 10⁻⁴ mM to 20 mM of mercury ion for fixed 1 mM of glucose concentration in the solution. The linear range of the inhibition from 10⁻³ mM to 6 mM of mercury ion was also acquired for a fixed 10 mM of glucose concentration. The working electrode can be reactivated by more than 70% after inhibition by simply dipping the used electrode in a 10 mM PBS solution for 7 min. The electrodes retained their original enzyme activity by about 90% for more than three weeks. The response to mercury ions was highly sensitive, selective, stable, reproducible, and interference resistant, and exhibits a fast response time. The developed glucose biosensor has a great potential for detection of mercury with several advantages such as being inexpensive, requiring minimum hardware and being suitable for unskilled users. Full article

In this work, fabrication of gold coated glass substrate, growth of ZnO nanorods and potentiometric response of lactic acid are explained. The biosensor was developed by immobilizing the lactate oxidase on the ZnO nanorods in combination with glutaraldehyde as a cross linker for lactate oxidase enzyme. The potentiometric technique was applied for the measuring the output (EMF) response of L-lactic acid biosensor. We noticed that the present biosensor has wide linear detection range of concentration from 1 × 10⁻⁴–1 × 10⁰ mM with acceptable sensitivity about 41.33 ± 1.58 mV/decade. In addition, the proposed biosensor showed fast response time less than 10 s, a good selectivity towards L-lactic acid in presence of common interfering substances such as ascorbic acid, urea, glucose, galactose, magnesium ions and calcium ions. The present biosensor based on immobilized ZnO nanorods with lactate oxidase sustained its stability for more than three weeks. Full article

In this study, we have successfully demonstrated the fabrication of a biosensor based on well aligned single-crystal zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods which were grown on gold coated glass substrate using a low temperature aqueous chemical growth (ACG) method. The ZnO nanorods were immobilized with penicillinase enzyme using the physical adsorption approach in combination with N-5-azido-2-nitrobenzoyloxysuccinimide (ANB-NOS) as cross linking molecules. The potentiometric response of the sensor configuration revealed good linearity over a large logarithmic concentration range from 100 µM to 100 mM. During the investigations, the proposed sensor showed a good stability with high sensitivity of ~121 mV/decade for sensing of penicillin. A quick electrochemical response of less than 5 s with a good selectivity, repeatability, reproducibility and a negligible response to common interferents such as Na¹⁺, K¹⁺, d-glucose, l-glucose, ascorbic acid, uric acid, urea, sucrose, lactose, glycine, penicilloic acid and cephalosporins, was observed. Full article