Synthesis of novel monomeric graphene quantum dots and corresponding nanocomposite with molecularly imprinted polymer for electrochemical detection of an anticancerous ifosfamide drug.

This paper reports a typical synthesis of a nanocomposite of functionalized graphene quantum dots and imprinted polymer at the surface of screen-printed carbon electrode using N-acryloyl-4-aminobenzamide, as a functional monomer, and an anticancerous drug, ifosfamide, as a print molecule (test analyte). Herein, graphene quantum dots in nanocomposite practically induced the electrocatalytic activity by lowering the oxidation overpotential of test analyte and thereby amplifying electronic transmission, without any interfacial barrier in between the film and the electrode surface. The differential pulse anodic stripping signal at functionalized graphene quantum dots based imprinted sensor was realized to be about 3- and 7-fold higher as compared to the traditionally made imprinted polymers prepared in the presence and the absence of graphene quantum dots (un-functionalized), respectively. This may be attributed to a pertinent synergism in between the positively charged functionalized graphene quantum dots in the film and the target analyte toward the enhancement of electro-conductivity of the film and thereby the electrode kinetics. In fact, the covalent attachment of graphene quantum dots with N-acryloyl-4-aminobenzamide molecules might exert an extended conjugation at their interface facilitating electro conducting to render the channelized pathways for the electron transport. The proposed sensor is practically applicable to the ultratrace evaluation of ifosfamide in real (biological/pharmaceutical) samples with detection limit as low as 0.11ngmL-1 (S/N=3), without any matrix effect, cross-reactivity, and false-positives.

A dual-ion imprinted polymer embedded in sol-gel matrix for the ultra trace simultaneous analysis of cadmium and copper.

In simultaneous determination of group of elements, there are inter-metallic interactions which result in a non-linear relationship between the peak current and ionic concentration for each of the element, at bare (unmodified) electrode. To resolve this problem, we have resorted, for the first time, to develop a modified pencil graphite electrode using a typical ion imprinted polymer network (dual-ion imprinted polymer embedded in sol-gel matrix (inorganic-organic hybrid nano-material)) for the simultaneous analysis of a binary mixture of Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions, without any complication of inter-metallic interactions and competitive bindings, in real samples. The adequate resolution of differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry peaks by 725 mV (cf, 615 mV with unmodified electrode), without any cross-reactivity and the stringent detection limits as low as, 0.050 and 0.034 ng mL(-1) (S/N=3) for Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions, respectively by the proposed sensor can be considered useful for the primitive diagnosis of several chronic diseases in clinical settings.

A dual-template imprinted polymer-modified carbon ceramic electrode for ultra trace simultaneous analysis of ascorbic acid and dopamine.

A dual-template imprinted polymer film containing dispersed multiwalled carbon nanotubes was exploited in the fabrication of a typical, reproducible, and rugged carbon ceramic electrode, adopting "surface grafting from" approach for the growth of a nanometer thin coating on its surface. For this, chloro groups were first introduced at the exterior surface of silica-carbon composite electrode through sol-gel modification using (3-chloropropyl)-trimethoxysilane, followed by an iniferter (sodium diethyl dithiocarbamate) initiated photopolymerization of functional monomer (2,4,6-trisacrylamido-1,3,5-triazine), mixed templates (ascorbic acid and dopamine), and cross-linker (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate), in the presence of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The modified sensor was validated for the simultaneous analysis of ascorbic acid and dopamine in aqueous, blood serum, cerebrospinal fluid, and pharmaceutical samples, using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetric technique. The oxidation peak potentials for both analytes were found to be well apart approximately by 300 mV, which was large enough to allow selective and sensitive analysis of one in the presence of other, without any cross reactivity, interferences and false-positives. The detection limits realized by the proposed sensor, under optimized conditions, were found to be as low as 2.24 ng mL(-1) for ascorbic acid and 0.21 ng mL(-1) for dopamine (S/N=3). Such stringent limits could be considered suitable for the primitive diagnosis of several chronic diseases, in clinical settings.