Polyvinyl alcohol-derived-carbon quantum dots based fluorometric "On-Off" probe for moxifloxacin detection in milk and egg samples.

Unconditional use of antibiotics triggered the process of bacterial resistance and causes major health problems. Nowadays, antibiotics majorly used in animals not only for infection treatment but also as mass promotor. The excess amount of antibiotics residue in animal derived foods which accelerate antibiotic resistance (ABR). So, here, a simple and quick carbon quantum dots(CQDs) based fluorometric "On-Off" probe was developed for detection of moxifloxacin (MOXI) in milk and egg samples. The CQDs emits blue emission and are uniformly distributed with average particle size 5.9 ± 0.22 nm. With MOXI, fluorescence intensity of CQDs at 372 nm decreased due to inner filter effect (IFE) and a new peak appeared at 508 nm correspondence to MOXI. The probe shows linear response with MOXI concentration varies as 0.025 µM - 15.0 µM with lower detection limit (LOD) of 6.34 nM. The real sample applicability test proved that the sensors have excellent efficacy for food applications.

Gold@Carbon Quantum Dots Nanocomposites Based Two-In-One Sensor: A Novel Approach for Sensitive Detection of Aminoglycosides Antibiotics in Food Samples.

Antibiotics are life-saving drugs for humans, but their unwanted use leads to antibacterial resistance (ABR) and causes serious health problems. The excess of these antibiotics entered to the food chain and caused food contamination. Here, Au@CQDs nanocomposites (NCs) was used as a two-in-one sensor to detect two antibiotics. The color change of AuNCs and fluorescence resonance energy transfer are two distance-dependent phenomena used as sensing mechanisms. In the sensing process, Au@CQDs NCs change their color, enhancing the fluorescence intensity of NCs in the presence of Gentamicin (GENTA) and Kanamycin (KMC) antibiotics. The limit of detection of 116 nM and 133 nM for GENTA and 195 nM and 120 nM for KMC have been achieved with colorimetric and fluorimetric readout, respectively. The practicality of the reported sensor was evaluated in real spiked samples and showed excellent recovery efficiency. Therefore this two-in-one sensor can be used for the food monitoring system.

Nanomaterial-Based Electrochemical Nanodiagnostics for Human and Gut Metabolites Diagnostics: Recent Advances and Challenges.

Metabolites are the intermediatory products of metabolic processes catalyzed by numerous enzymes found inside the cells. Detecting clinically relevant metabolites is important to understand their physiological and biological functions along with the evolving medical diagnostics. Rapid advances in detecting the tiny metabolites such as biomarkers that signify disease hallmarks have an immense need for high-performance identifying techniques. Low concentrations are found in biological fluids because the metabolites are difficult to dissolve in an aqueous medium. Therefore, the selective and sensitive study of metabolites as biomarkers in biological fluids is problematic. The different non-electrochemical and conventional methods need a long time of analysis, long sampling, high maintenance costs, and costly instrumentation. Hence, employing electrochemical techniques in clinical examination could efficiently meet the requirements of fully automated, inexpensive, specific, and quick means of biomarker detection. The electrochemical methods are broadly utilized in several emerging and established technologies, and electrochemical biosensors are employed to detect different metabolites. This review describes the advancement in electrochemical sensors developed for clinically associated human metabolites, including glucose, lactose, uric acid, urea, cholesterol, etc., and gut metabolites such as TMAO, TMA, and indole derivatives. Different sensing techniques are evaluated for their potential to achieve relevant degrees of multiplexing, specificity, and sensitivity limits. Moreover, we have also focused on the opportunities and remaining challenges for integrating the electrochemical sensor into the point-of-care (POC) devices.

A hybrid optical strategy based on graphene quantum dots and gold nanoparticles for selective determination of gentamicin in the milk and egg samples.

A rapid and sensitive hybrid nanosensor was reported with a colorimetric and fluorometric readout system using graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the detection of gentamicin (GENTA) in milk and egg samples. In the presence of AuNPs, the fluorescence (FL) intensity of GQDs gradually decreased due to the inner filter effect (IFE) of AuNPs on the FL intensity of GQDs. In addition of GENTA into AuNPs, AuNPs get aggregated and changed their color from red to blue, due to which the IFE of AuNPs reduced and hence, enhanced FL intensity of GQDs with varying concentration of GENTA from 1.03 to 16.55 µM with a lower detection limit of 0.422 µM and 0.493 µM in colorimetric and fluorimetric systems, respectively. The practical application of the developed nanosensor is tested against the real spiked sample. The excellent and straightforward recovery efficiency of the developed nanosensor for the determination of GENTA and can be used as a promising and adaptable tool for speedy monitoring of food quantity.

Fluorescence tuning behavior of carbon quantum dots with gold nanoparticles via novel intercalation effect of aldicarb.

A simple, sensitive and rapid fluorometric system has been developed for the detection of aldicarb (ALD) based on inner filter effect (IFE) of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on fluorescence (FL) intensity of carbon quantum dots (CQDs). Addition of CQDs into AuNPs, gets them aggregated due to electrostatic interaction resulting in quenching the FL intensity of CQDs. With addition of ALD into AuNPs, an intercalated layer was formed between them through Au-N and Au-S bond which reduced IFE of AuNPs. Hence, CQDs FL intensity recovered along with ALD concentration varying between 3.8 and 76 µg L-1 with lower detection limit of 3.02 µg L-1. The spiked real samples study in fruits, vegetables and soft drinks revealed that this sensing platform was repeatable and effective for real samples. The validation of proposed method indicates that the ALD sensor is promising and adaptable for everyday on spot environment and food safety monitoring.

Studies on carbon-quantum-dot-embedded iron oxide nanoparticles and their electrochemical response.

A report on the synthesis of carbon-quantum-dot-embedded iron oxide nanoparticles (CQD@Fe3O4NPs) and their improved electrochemical studies is presented. Fe3O4NPs and CQD@Fe3O4NPs were synthesized by the wet-chemical co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction measurements exhibited pure cubic phase with Fd3m space group in Fe3O4NPs and CQD@Fe3O4NPs. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy measurements confirmed the functionalization of Fe3O4NPs with CQDs. Dynamic light scattering measurements revealed a hydrodynamic radius of 520 nm and 319 nm for Fe3O4NPs and CQD@Fe3O4NPs, respectively. Moreover, zeta potential measurements showed positively charged Fe3O4NPs and negatively charged CQD@Fe3O4NPs. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements showed nearly spherical structure with an average size of around 7 nm for Fe3O4 in both samples, whereas CQDs were nearly 2 nm in size in CQD@Fe3O4NPs. A biocompatibility study showed that CQD@Fe3O4NPs were more biocompatible than the bare Fe3O4NPs. CQD@Fe3O4NPs were then dispersed in chitosan (CHIT) solution, and drop-casted onto an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate for further study. Atomic force microscopy results showed improved surface roughness of the CQD@Fe3O4-CHIT/ITO electrode, providing a better biosensing platform. The electrochemical response studies of CQD@Fe3O4-CHIT/ITO also showed enhanced electrochemical signal compared to Fe3O4-CHIT/ITO electrodes. Thus, a CQD@Fe3O4-CHIT/ITO electrode was used for the detection of vitamin D2 (10-100 ng ml-1) using a differential pulse voltammetry technique. The sensitivity and limit of detection were obtained as 0.069 µA ng-1 ml cm-2 and 2.46 ng ml-1, respectively.