Insight into continuous glucose monitoring: from medical basics to commercialized devices.

According to the latest statistics, more than 537 million people around the world struggle with diabetes and its adverse consequences. As well as acute risks of hypo- or hyper- glycemia, long-term vascular complications may occur, including coronary heart disease or stroke, as well as diabetic nephropathy leading to end-stage disease, neuropathy or retinopathy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve diabetes management to reduce the risk of complications but also to improve patient's quality life. The impact of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is well recognized, in this regard. The current review aims at introducing the basic principles of glucose sensing, including electrochemical and optical detection, summarizing CGM technology, its requirements, advantages, and disadvantages. The role of CGM systems in the clinical diagnostics/personal testing, difficulties in their utilization, and recommendations are also discussed. In the end, challenges and prospects in future CGM systems are discussed and non-invasive, wearable glucose biosensors are introduced. Though the scope of this review is CGMs and provides information about medical issues and analytical principles, consideration of broader use will be critical in future if the right systems are to be selected for effective diabetes management.

Insight into Potassium Vanadates as Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalysts: Synthesis of V(IV)-Rich Nano/Microstructures for the Photodegradation of Methylene Blue.

Photocatalysis is regarded as a promising tool for wastewater remediation. In recent years, many studies have focused on investigating novel photocatalysts driven by visible light. In this study, K2V6O16·nH2O nanobelts and KV3O8 microplatelets were synthesized and investigated as photocatalysts. Samples were obtained via the facile method based on liquid-phase exfoliation with ion exchange. By changing the synthesis temperature (20-80 °C), different compositions, morphologies, and V4+/V5+ ratios were obtained and investigated as photocatalysts for organic dye degradation. Potassium vanadates' structural, morphological, and optical properties were characterized using X-ray diffraction(XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) with mass spectrometry (MS), N2 adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Synthesized K2V6O16·nH2O and KV3O8 showed an efficient absorption in the visible wavelength region with a narrow band gap energy of 1.80 and 1.91 eV, respectively. Their photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under simulated solar light illumination. The KV3O8 microplatelets exhibited the greatest photocatalytic activity, resulting in more than 90% degradation of the dye within the first 30 min. It is suggested that the observed excellent photocatalytic performance is attributed to the high content of V4+ species. Furthermore, the influence of active species was investigated, and the mechanism responsible for the photodegradation of the MB dye was discussed for the first time for potassium vanadates.

Electrocatalytic performance of oxygen-activated carbon fibre felt anodes mediating degradation mechanism of acetaminophen in aqueous environments.

Carbon felts are flexible and scalable, have high specific areas, and are highly conductive materials that fit the requirements for both anodes and cathodes in advanced electrocatalytic processes. Advanced oxidative modification processes (thermal, chemical, and plasma-chemical) were applied to carbon felt anodes to enhance their efficiency towards electro-oxidation. The modification of the porous anodes results in increased kinetics of acetaminophen degradation in aqueous environments. The utilised oxidation techniques deliver single-step, straightforward, eco-friendly, and stable physiochemical reformation of carbon felt surfaces. The modifications caused minor changes in both the specific surface area and total pore volume corresponding with the surface morphology. A pristine carbon felt electrode was capable of decomposing up to 70% of the acetaminophen in a 240 min electrolysis process, while the oxygen-plasma treated electrode achieved a removal yield of 99.9% estimated utilising HPLC-UV-Vis. Here, the electro-induced incineration kinetics of acetaminophen resulted in a rate constant of 1.54 h-1, with the second-best result of 0.59 h-1 after oxidation in 30% H2O2. The kinetics of acetaminophen removal was synergistically studied by spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques, revealing various reaction pathways attributed to the formation of intermediate compounds such as p-aminophenol and others. The enhancement of the electrochemical oxidation rates towards acetaminophen was attributed to the appearance of surface carbonyl species. Our results indicate that the best-performing plasma-chemical treated CFE follows a heterogeneous mechanism with only approx. 40% removal due to direct electro-oxidation. The degradation mechanism of acetaminophen at the treated carbon felt anodes was proposed based on the detected intermediate products. Estimation of the cost-effectiveness of removal processes, in terms of energy consumption, was also elaborated. Although the study was focussed on acetaminophen, the achieved results could be adapted to also process emerging, hazardous pollutant groups such as anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals.

Microstructural Design of Ba0.5La0.5Co0.5Fe0.5O3 Perovskite Ceramics.

Ba0.5La0.5Co0.5Fe0.5O3-δ was synthesized in the solid-state reaction route. The influence of ball milling parameters (such as milling media size, angular velocity, and time), pelletizing pressure, and annealing parameters on the microstructure was studied. The grain size distribution and density or specific surface area changes were investigated in each approach while the individual parameters were changed. The evaluation of BLCF synthesis parameters enables tailoring the microstructure to various applications. It was observed that with lowering the size of milling balls and increasing the angular velocity the material will be porous and thus more appropriate as electrode material in proton ceramic fuel cell or electrolyzer. An increase of time, balls diameter, and/or angular velocity of milling enables one to densify the material in case of membrane application in, e.g., as a gas sensor. The significant influence on densification has also annealing temperature increase. Applying 1200 °C during annealing leads to dense material, while at 1100 °C shows visible porosity of the product. In this work, we present the results of the BLCF synthesis parameters change allowing the selection of appropriate parameter values depending on the further application as PCCs.

Synthesis of Phosphonated Carbon Nanotubes: New Insight into Carbon Nanotubes Functionalization.

Carbon nanotubes were successfully functionalized for the first time in a free radical phosphonylation reaction. Three synthetic protocols were proposed. Carbon nanotubes and diethylphosphite reacted in the presence of known radical initiator, such as azobisisobutyronitrile, single electron oxidant-Mn(OAc)3, or under UV radiation. The functionalized material was fully characterized by means of spectroscopic methods, together with microscopic, surface area and thermogravimetric analyses. UV-illumination was found to be the most effective approach for introducing phosphonates onto carbon nanotubes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed 6% phosphorus in this sample. Moreover, the method was performed at room temperature for only one hour, using diethylphosphite as a reactant and as a solvent. The functionalized carbon nanotubes showed an improved thermal stability, with a decomposition onset temperature increase of more than 130 °C. This makes it very promising material for flame retarding applications.

Tailoring the Size and Shape-New Path for Ammonium Metavanadate Synthesis.

Ammonium metavanadate, NH4VO3, plays an important role in the preparation of vanadium oxides and other ammonium compounds, such as NH4V3O8, (NH4)2V3O8, and NH4V4O10, which were found to possess interesting electrochemical properties. In this work, a new route for the synthesis of NH4VO3 is proposed by mixing an organic ammonium salt and V2O5 in a suitable solvent. The one-step procedure is carried out at room temperature. Additionally, the need for pH control and use of oxidants necessary in known methods is eliminated. The mechanism of the NH4VO3 formation is explained. It is presented that it is possible to tailor the morphology and size of the obtained NH4VO3 crystals, depending on the combination of reagents. Nano- and microcrystals of NH4VO3 are obtained and used as precursors in the hydrothermal synthesis of higher ammonium vanadates. It is proven that the size of the precursor particles can significantly affect the physical and chemical properties of the resulting products.

Solvent-Free Synthesis of Phosphonic Graphene Derivative and Its Application in Mercury Ions Adsorption.

Functionalized graphene was efficiently prepared through ball-milling of graphite in the presence of dry ice. In this way, oxygen functional groups were introduced into material. The material was further chemically functionalized to produce graphene derivative with phosphonic groups. The obtained materials were characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic methods, along with thermogravimetric analysis. The newly developed material was used as an efficient mercury adsorbent, showing high adsorption efficiency. The adsorption isotherms were fitted using Freundlich and Langmuir models. The adsorption kinetics were fitted with pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order models. Adsorption selectivity was determined in the presence of cadmium ions and nickel ions. The presence of mentioned bivalent ions in the solution did not affect mercury adsorption efficiency.