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Due to their size and difficulty to obtain, cost/effective biological or synthetic receptors (e.g., antibodies or aptamers, respectively), organic toxic compounds (e.g., less than 1 kDa) are generally challenging to detect using simple platforms such as biosensors. This study reports on the synthesis and characterization of a novel multifunctional composite material, magnetic silica beads/graphene quantum dots/molecularly imprinted polypyrrole (mSGP). mSGP is engineered to specifically and effectively capture and signal small molecules due to the synergy among chemical, magnetic, and optical properties combined with molecular imprinting of tributyltin (291 Da), a hazardous compound, selected as a model analyte. Magnetic and selective properties of the mSGP composite can be exploited to capture and preconcentrate the analyte onto its surface, and its photoluminescent graphene quantum dots, which are quenched upon analyte recognition, are used to interrogate the presence of the contaminant. This multifunctional material enables a rapid, simple and sensitive platform for small molecule detection, even in complex mediums such as seawater, without any sample treatment.

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Here, we report a novel enantioselective electrochemical biosensor for the discrimination of cystine enantiomers (d- and l-cystine) using a chiral interface for the specific recognition of d- and l-cystine. The biosensor is based on reduced graphene oxide modified by β-cyclodextrin (rGO/β-CD) at the GCE surface. During the preparation of rGO/β-CD/GCE, the modified electrode surfaces were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrochemical behaviours of the d- and l-cystine were investigated using the rGO/β-CD/GCE by CV and compared to bare GCE. A clear separation between the oxidation peak potentials of d- and l-cystine was observed at 1.32 and 1.42 V, respectively. The electrochemical discrimination performance of the fabricated chiral sensor was also examined by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in a mixed solution of d- and l-cystine. In addition, the DPV technique was used for the determination of d- and l-cystine at low concentration values in the range of 1.0-10.0 μM. To investigate the amperometric response of rGO/β-CD/GCE towards d- and l-cystine, the chronoamperometry technique was used in the concentration range of 10.0-100.0 μM. The interactions of the enantiomers with rGO/β-CD were modelled by molecular docking using AutoDock Vina, and the interaction energies were predicted to be -4.8 and -5.3 kcal mol(-1) for d- and l-cystine, respectively. The corresponding values of binding constants were calculated to be 3.32 × 10(3) and 7.71 × 10(3) M(-1), respectively. The experimental and molecular docking results indicate that the rGO/β-CD/GCE has a different affinity for each enantiomer.

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