Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 34924

Special Issue Editors

Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Head of Research and Innovation, University Mohamed VI Polytechnic, Lot 660 – Hay Moulay Rachid, 43150 Benguerir, Morocco
Interests: nanomaterials; biomaterials; supramolecular engineering; self-assembly; drug delivery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The rapid progress in the biosensing research field has significantly benefited from the development of functional smart materials and their huge potential as signal transducers, enabling novel integrated solutions for diagnostics, and so on. 

On the one hand, the unique properties of nanomaterials—such as their optical, electrical, magnetic, and catalytic properties, and the fact that they are easily tunable by altering their compositions, sizes, shapes, and doping—provide interesting opportunities for improving the performance of well-known biosensors and the development of sensing approaches based on different transduction techniques. On the other hand, the myriad of existing surface functionalization strategies allows for modifying the surface chemistry of such nanomaterials with the aim of introducing recognition units for the detection of specific target compounds for sensing. Altogether, novel materials are playing a more and more important role in boosting the performance of biosensors. 

This Special Issue aims to share new developments in the growing field of novel materials, especially for biosensor applications, as well as to understand new challenges that are being faced in these fields of research.

Prof. Dr. Hicham Fenniri
Prof. Dr. Huanyu Cheng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • novel materials
  • biosensors

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

10 pages, 34862 KiB  
Article
Bioadhesive Gauze Embedded with Chitosan-Butein Bioconjugate: A Redox-Active pH Sensor Platform
by Vinoth Krishnan, Venkatachalam Ananth, Jayasudha Velayutham, Pandiaraj Manickam and Murugan Veerapandian
Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010006 - 21 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1252
Abstract
With the ever-growing global wound care market, demand for robust redox-active healthcare material is obvious for the construction of wearable sensor platforms. Surface reactive functional group-rich material like chitosan holds huge potential for electrochemical biosensor application. Herein, a metal-free redox-active chitosan–butein (CSB) bioconjugate [...] Read more.
With the ever-growing global wound care market, demand for robust redox-active healthcare material is obvious for the construction of wearable sensor platforms. Surface reactive functional group-rich material like chitosan holds huge potential for electrochemical biosensor application. Herein, a metal-free redox-active chitosan–butein (CSB) bioconjugate is processed into epidermal bioadhesive electrode material useful for pH sensors promising toward wound site analysis. A two-electrode system devised for conducting carbon-reinforced silver chloride paste and CSB-modified carbon/silver chloride matrix was used as a reference and working electrodes, respectively. Dimensions of working and reference electrodes (4 mm) were designed by 2D cutter plotter-assisted stenciling. The cross-sectional topology of the constructed adhesive CSB-sensor platform exhibits an average surface thickness of 183 ± 2 μm. Cyclic voltammetric analysis revealed the inherent 2e/2H+ transfer attributed to the catechol OH groups of graft polymerized CSB modified on adhesive gauze. As-fabricated modified electrode substrates exhibit distinguishable potential differences with respect to electrolytes of varied pH (between 5 to 9), promising for wound site analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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11 pages, 2198 KiB  
Article
Polydopamine-Coated Co3O4 Nanoparticles as an Efficient Catalase Mimic for Fluorescent Detection of Sulfide Ion
by Trung Hieu Vu, Phuong Thy Nguyen and Moon Il Kim
Biosensors 2022, 12(11), 1047; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12111047 - 19 Nov 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1804
Abstract
Surface engineering of nanozymes has been recognized as a potent strategy to improve their catalytic activity and specificity. We synthesized polydopamine-coated Co3O4 nanoparticles (PDA@Co3O4 NPs) through simple dopamine-induced self-assembly and demonstrated that these NPs exhibit catalase-like activity [...] Read more.
Surface engineering of nanozymes has been recognized as a potent strategy to improve their catalytic activity and specificity. We synthesized polydopamine-coated Co3O4 nanoparticles (PDA@Co3O4 NPs) through simple dopamine-induced self-assembly and demonstrated that these NPs exhibit catalase-like activity by decomposing H2O2 into oxygen and water. The activity of PDA@Co3O4 NPs was approximately fourfold higher than that of Co3O4 NPs without PDA, possibly due to the additional radical scavenging activity of the PDA shell. In addition, PDA@Co3O4 NPs were more stable than natural catalase under a wide range of pH, temperature, and storage time conditions. Upon the addition of a sample containing sulfide ion, the activity of PDA@Co3O4 NPs was significantly inhibited, possibly because of increased mass transfer limitations via the absorption of the sulfide ion on the PDA@Co3O4 NP surface, along with NP aggregation which reduced their surface area. The reduced catalase-like activity was used to determine the levels of sulfide ion by measuring the increased fluorescence of the oxidized terephthalic acid, generated from the added H2O2. Using this strategy, the target sulfide ion was sensitively determined to a lower limit of 4.3 µM and dynamic linear range of up to 200 µM. The fluorescence-based sulfide ion assay based on PDA@Co3O4 NPs was highly precise when applied to real tap water samples, validating its potential for conveniently monitoring toxic elements in the environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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9 pages, 2501 KiB  
Communication
Histostar-Functionalized Covalent Organic Framework for Electrochemical Detection of Exosomes
by Yuxin Lin, Beibei Nie, Xinyu Qu, Minghui Wang, Jie Yang and Genxi Li
Biosensors 2022, 12(9), 704; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12090704 - 01 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1809
Abstract
Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are gaining growing interest owing to their various structures and versatility. Since their specific physical–chemical characteristics endow them great usage potentiality in biosensing, we herein have synthesized spherical COFs with regular shape and good dispersion, which are further used [...] Read more.
Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are gaining growing interest owing to their various structures and versatility. Since their specific physical–chemical characteristics endow them great usage potentiality in biosensing, we herein have synthesized spherical COFs with regular shape and good dispersion, which are further used for the design of a novel nanoprobe by modifying Histostar on the surface of the COFs. Moreover, we have applied a nanoprobe for the fabrication of an electrochemical biosensor to detect exosomes. Since Histostar is a special polymer, conjugated with many secondary antibodies (IgG), and HRP can increase the availability of HRP at the antigenic site, the biosensor can have a strong signal amplification ability. Meanwhile, since COFs with high porosity can be loaded with a huge amount of Histostar, the sensitivity of the biosensor can be further improved. With such a design, the proposed biosensor can achieve a low exosomes detection limit of 318 particles/µL, and a wide linear detection range from 103 particles/µL to 108 particles/µL. So, this work may offer a promising platform for the ultrasensitive detection of exosomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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14 pages, 3886 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Glucose Oxidase Immobilization on Dendritic Gold Nanostructures on the Performance of Glucose Biosensors
by Laura Sakalauskiene, Anton Popov, Asta Kausaite-Minkstimiene, Arunas Ramanavicius and Almira Ramanaviciene
Biosensors 2022, 12(5), 320; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12050320 - 10 May 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2709
Abstract
In recent years, many efforts have been made to develop rapid, sensitive and user-friendly glucose biosensors for monitoring blood glucose concentration in patients. In this study, the electrochemical glucose biosensors based on graphite rod (GR) electrode electrochemically modified with dendritic gold nanostructures (DGNs) [...] Read more.
In recent years, many efforts have been made to develop rapid, sensitive and user-friendly glucose biosensors for monitoring blood glucose concentration in patients. In this study, the electrochemical glucose biosensors based on graphite rod (GR) electrode electrochemically modified with dendritic gold nanostructures (DGNs) and glucose oxidase (GOx) were developed. Phenazine methosulfate was used as a soluble redox mediator. Three GOx immobilization methods: adsorption on DGNs and cross-linking with glutaraldehyde (GA) vapour (GA-GOx/DGNs/GR), covalent immobilization on DGNs modified with 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid self-assembled monolayer (SAM) (GOx-SAM/DGNs/GR) and covalent immobilization on SAM with additional cross-linking with GA vapour (GA-GOx-SAM/DGNs/GR), were used. It was determined that GA significantly improved the stability of the enzyme layer. The difference of maximal current generated during the enzymatic reaction (ΔImax) equal to 272.06 ± 8.69 µA was obtained using a biosensor based on GA-GOx/DGNs/GR electrodes. However, the highest ΔImax equal to 384.20 ± 16.06 µA was obtained using GA-GOx-SAM/DGNs/GR electrode. ΔImax for biosensors based on the GA-GOx-SAM/DGNs/GR electrode was 1.41 times higher than for the GA-GOx/DGNs/GR, whereas the linear dynamic range from 0.1 to 10 mM was the same using all three GOx immobilization methods. The limit of detection using GA-GOx-SAM/DGNs/GR and GA-GOx/DGNs/GR electrodes was 0.019 and 0.022 mM, respectively. The ability to detect glucose in the serum by developed biosensors was evaluated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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9 pages, 2510 KiB  
Communication
Prussian Blue Nanoparticle Supported MoS2 Nanocomposites as a Peroxidase-Like Nanozyme for Colorimetric Sensing of Dopamine
by Zhiqiang Zhu, Lingbo Gong, Xiangyang Miao, Chaoyang Chen and Shao Su
Biosensors 2022, 12(5), 260; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12050260 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3022
Abstract
An abnormal level of dopamine (DA) is usually related to neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. Herein, cubic-shaped, Prussian blue nanoparticle-supported MoS2 nanocomposites (MoS2-CPBNPs) were prepared as peroxidase-like nanozymes for the label-free, colorimetric detection of DA. As expected, the as-prepared MoS [...] Read more.
An abnormal level of dopamine (DA) is usually related to neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. Herein, cubic-shaped, Prussian blue nanoparticle-supported MoS2 nanocomposites (MoS2-CPBNPs) were prepared as peroxidase-like nanozymes for the label-free, colorimetric detection of DA. As expected, the as-prepared MoS2-CPBNPs nanozymes have outstanding peroxidase-like mimicking activity, which can catalyze 3,3′,5,5′-Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to generate blue, oxidized TMB in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). DA can inhibit the oxidation of TMB, which causes blue solutions to fade and become colorless. According to this phenomenon, the developed colorimetric sensor can qualitatively and quantitatively analyze DA ranging from 0 to 300 μM with a detection limit of 0.09 μM. In addition, the high recovery and low relative standard deviation for practical DA determination suggested that this colorimetric sensor has potential for application in biological biosensing and diagnostic fields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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9 pages, 1959 KiB  
Article
Transdermal Polymeric Microneedle Sensing Platform for Fentanyl Detection in Biofluid
by Pratik Joshi, Parand R. Riley, Rupesh Mishra, Sina Azizi Machekposhti and Roger Narayan
Biosensors 2022, 12(4), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12040198 - 27 Mar 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3232
Abstract
Opioid drugs are extremely potent synthetic analytes, and their abuse is common around the world. Hence, a rapid and point-of-need device is necessary to assess the presence of this compound in body fluid so that a timely countermeasure can be provided to the [...] Read more.
Opioid drugs are extremely potent synthetic analytes, and their abuse is common around the world. Hence, a rapid and point-of-need device is necessary to assess the presence of this compound in body fluid so that a timely countermeasure can be provided to the exposed individuals. Herein, we present an attractive microneedle sensing platform for the detection of the opioid drug fentanyl in real serum samples using an electrochemical detection method. The device contained an array of pyramidal microneedle structures that were integrated with platinum (Pt) and silver (Ag) wires, each with a microcavity opening. The working sensor was modified by graphene ink and subsequently with 4 (3-Butyl-1-imidazolio)-1-butanesulfonate) ionic liquid. The microneedle sensor showed direct oxidation of fentanyl in liquid samples with a detection limit of 27.8 μM by employing a highly sensitive square-wave voltammetry technique. The resulting microneedle-based sensing platform displayed an interference-free fentanyl detection in diluted serum without conceding its sensitivity, stability, and response time. The obtained results revealed that the microneedle sensor holds considerable promise for point-of-need fentanyl detection and opens additional opportunities for detecting substances of abuse in emergencies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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14 pages, 3604 KiB  
Article
MoS2 Nanodonuts for High-Sensitivity Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
by Samar Ali Ghopry, Seyed M. Sadeghi, Cindy L. Berrie and Judy Z. Wu
Biosensors 2021, 11(12), 477; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11120477 - 25 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2434
Abstract
Nanohybrids of graphene and two-dimensional (2D) layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) nanostructures can provide a promising substrate for extraordinary surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) due to the combined electromagnetic enhancement on TMD nanostructures via localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) and chemical enhancement on graphene. [...] Read more.
Nanohybrids of graphene and two-dimensional (2D) layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) nanostructures can provide a promising substrate for extraordinary surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) due to the combined electromagnetic enhancement on TMD nanostructures via localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) and chemical enhancement on graphene. In these nanohybrid SERS substrates, the LSPR on TMD nanostructures is affected by the TMD morphology. Herein, we report the first successful growth of MoS2 nanodonuts (N-donuts) on graphene using a vapor transport process on graphene. Using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) as a probe, SERS spectra were compared on MoS2 N-donuts/graphene nanohybrids substrates. A remarkably high R6G SERS sensitivity up to 2 × 10−12 M has been obtained, which can be attributed to the more robust LSPR effect than in other TMD nanostructures such as nanodiscs as suggested by the finite-difference time-domain simulation. This result demonstrates that non-metallic TMD/graphene nanohybrids substrates can have SERS sensitivity up to one order of magnitude higher than that reported on the plasmonic metal nanostructures/2D materials SERS substrates, providing a promising scheme for high-sensitivity, low-cost applications for biosensing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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14 pages, 1918 KiB  
Article
The Kinetic and Analytical Aspects of Enzyme Competitive Inhibition: Sensing of Tyrosinase Inhibitors
by Raouia Attaallah and Aziz Amine
Biosensors 2021, 11(9), 322; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11090322 - 08 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4024
Abstract
An amperometric biosensor based on tyrosinase, immobilized onto a carbon black paste electrode using glutaraldehyde and BSA was constructed to detect competitive inhibitors. Three inhibitors were used in this study: benzoic acid, sodium azide, and kojic acid, and the obtained values for fifty [...] Read more.
An amperometric biosensor based on tyrosinase, immobilized onto a carbon black paste electrode using glutaraldehyde and BSA was constructed to detect competitive inhibitors. Three inhibitors were used in this study: benzoic acid, sodium azide, and kojic acid, and the obtained values for fifty percent of inhibition (IC50) were 119 µM, 1480 µM, and 30 µM, respectively. The type of inhibition can also be determined from the curve of the degree of inhibition by considering the shift of the inhibition curves. Amperometric experiments were performed with a biosensor polarized at the potential −0.15 V vs. Ag/AgCl and using 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) as an electrolyte. Under optimized conditions, the proposed biosensor showed a linear amperometric response toward catechol detection from 0.5 µM to 38 µM with a detection limit of 0.35 µM (S/N = 3), and its sensitivity was 66.5 mA M−1 cm−2. Moreover, the biosensor exhibited a good storage stability. Conversely, a novel graphical plot for the determination of reversible competitive inhibition was represented for free tyrosinase. The graph consisted of plotting the half-time reaction (t1/2) as a function of the inhibitor concentration at various substrate concentrations. This innovative method relevance was demonstrated in the case of kojic acid using a colorimetric bioassay relying on tyrosinase inhibition. The results showed that the t1/2 provides an extended linear range of tyrosinase inhibitors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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Review

Jump to: Research

54 pages, 63730 KiB  
Review
Electrochemical Amino Acid Sensing: A Review on Challenges and Achievements
by Kaveh Moulaee and Giovanni Neri
Biosensors 2021, 11(12), 502; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11120502 - 07 Dec 2021
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6177
Abstract
The rapid growth of research in electrochemistry in the last decade has resulted in a significant advancement in exploiting electrochemical strategies for assessing biological substances. Among these, amino acids are of utmost interest due to their key role in human health. Indeed, an [...] Read more.
The rapid growth of research in electrochemistry in the last decade has resulted in a significant advancement in exploiting electrochemical strategies for assessing biological substances. Among these, amino acids are of utmost interest due to their key role in human health. Indeed, an unbalanced amino acid level is the origin of several metabolic and genetic diseases, which has led to a great need for effective and reliable evaluation methods. This review is an effort to summarize and present both challenges and achievements in electrochemical amino acid sensing from the last decade (from 2010 onwards) to show where limitations and advantages stem from. In this review, we place special emphasis on five well-known electroactive amino acids, namely cysteine, tyrosine, tryptophan, methionine and histidine. The recent research and achievements in this area and significant performance metrics of the proposed electrochemical sensors, including the limit of detection, sensitivity, stability, linear dynamic range(s) and applicability in real sample analysis, are summarized and presented in separate sections. More than 400 recent scientific studies were included in this review to portray a rich set of ideas and exemplify the capabilities of the electrochemical strategies to detect these essential biomolecules at trace and even ultra-trace levels. Finally, we discuss, in the last section, the remaining issues and the opportunities to push the boundaries of our knowledge in amino acid electrochemistry even further. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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26 pages, 3563 KiB  
Review
Substrate Materials for Biomolecular Immobilization within Electrochemical Biosensors
by Ian Ivar Suni
Biosensors 2021, 11(7), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11070239 - 15 Jul 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3841
Abstract
Electrochemical biosensors have potential applications for agriculture, food safety, environmental monitoring, sports medicine, biomedicine, and other fields. One of the primary challenges in this field is the immobilization of biomolecular probes atop a solid substrate material with adequate stability, storage lifetime, and reproducibility. [...] Read more.
Electrochemical biosensors have potential applications for agriculture, food safety, environmental monitoring, sports medicine, biomedicine, and other fields. One of the primary challenges in this field is the immobilization of biomolecular probes atop a solid substrate material with adequate stability, storage lifetime, and reproducibility. This review summarizes the current state of the art for covalent bonding of biomolecules onto solid substrate materials. Early research focused on the use of Au electrodes, with immobilization of biomolecules through ω-functionalized Au-thiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), but stability is usually inadequate due to the weak Au–S bond strength. Other noble substrates such as C, Pt, and Si have also been studied. While their nobility has the advantage of ensuring biocompatibility, it also has the disadvantage of making them relatively unreactive towards covalent bond formation. With the exception of Sn-doped In2O3 (indium tin oxide, ITO), most metal oxides are not electrically conductive enough for use within electrochemical biosensors. Recent research has focused on transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as MoS2 and on electrically conductive polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole, and polythiophene. In addition, the deposition of functionalized thin films from aryldiazonium cations has attracted significant attention as a substrate-independent method for biofunctionalization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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16 pages, 3516 KiB  
Review
Targets and Tools: Nucleic Acids for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
by Irene Calderon, Luca Guerrini and Ramon A. Alvarez-Puebla
Biosensors 2021, 11(7), 230; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11070230 - 09 Jul 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3156
Abstract
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) merges nanotechnology with conventional Raman spectroscopy to produce an ultrasensitive and highly specific analytical tool that has been exploited as the optical signal read-out in a variety of advanced applications. In this feature article, we delineate the main features [...] Read more.
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) merges nanotechnology with conventional Raman spectroscopy to produce an ultrasensitive and highly specific analytical tool that has been exploited as the optical signal read-out in a variety of advanced applications. In this feature article, we delineate the main features of the intertwined relationship between SERS and nucleic acids (NAs). In particular, we report representative examples of the implementation of SERS in biosensing platforms for NA detection, the integration of DNA as the biorecognition element onto plasmonic materials for SERS analysis of different classes of analytes (from metal ions to microorgniasms) and, finally, the use of structural DNA nanotechnology for the precise engineering of SERS-active nanomaterials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Biosensor Materials Section)
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