Herein, we reported the fabrication of conjugated microporous polymer (CMP) films based on three thiophene derivatives using a one-step templateless electropolymerization in dichloromethane without any surfactants. The formation of hydrophilic or hydrophobic films with specific morphology is a comprehensive result of the polymerization sites in each monomer, the polymerization rate, and the gas bubble produced in situ during the polymerization process, which can be easily controlled by the experimental conditions, such as electropolymerization method, electrolyte, and "trace water" existed in the organic solvent. Moreover, the electrochemical reduction of metronidazole as a prototypical nitro-analyte at CMP-modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode shows remarkably increased current response compared to nonmodified GC electrode. The process is demonstrated to be typical adsorption-controlled, and the hydrophobic surface of the electrode coating film is more favorable to the absorption and thus reduction of metronidazole. This work provides a new perspective and a breakthrough point for the application of CMPs in the electrochemical sensors.

Herein, a novel photoresponsive magnetic electrochemical imprinting sensor for the selective extraction of paracetamol from biological samples was designed. In particular, nanosized photoresponsive molecular imprinted polymers were prepared on the surface of magnetic FeO nanoparticles through living radical polymerization of azobenzene. The introduction of a magnetic-controlled glassy carbon electrode makes the immobilization and removal of nanosized photoresponsive molecular imprinted polymers on the magnetic-controlled glassy carbon electrode surface facilely operational. With the photoresponsive property, the sensor undergoes reversible release and uptake of paracetamol upon alternative irradiation at 365 and 440 nm basing on a configurational change of azobenzene monomer in the photoresponsive molecular imprinted polymers receptor sites. Simultaneously, these processes are monitored by the photoresponsive changes of electrochemical signal from paracetamol. Two linear ranges from 0.001 to 0.7 mmol L (R = 0.96) and 0.7 to 7 mmol L (R = 0.95) for paracetamol determination were obtained with a quantification limit of 0.000 86 mmol L and a detection limit of 0.000 43 mmol L. The recoveries of paracetamol in the urine as determined by photoresponsive molecular imprinted polymers extraction were varied between 87.5% and 93.3%. As a consequence, combining photocontrolled selective extraction, interfacial stability from magnetic adsorption, and specifically electrochemical response, the photoresponsive molecular imprinted polymers sensor shows significant advantages for simultaneous separation, enrichment, and detection of trace paracetamol in biological samples.

In this work, we first report a new application of coal as a novel modified electrode material in electrochemical sensing, achieving excellent electrochemical performance similar to graphene and making the utilization of coal become more multipurpose and more meaningful. Raw coal was first ball-milled, then centrifugated, and finally annealed, thus obtaining annealed coal that possesses lots of edge-plane-like defective sites, resulting in good electron-transfer efficiency and excellent electrocatalytic activity, which makes it promising when used as signal amplifier material and as a modified matrix in electrochemical sensing. And we also described an investigation into the electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of annealed coal samples and their application for the detection of electroactive redox molecules (rutin). Compared with other published carbon materials modified sensors, the annealed coal/chitosan/GCE sensor exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for the determination of rutin with good sensitivity, providing a wide linear detection range from 0.001 to 10 μmol dm and a low detection limit of 0.2 nmol dm (S/N = 3). Moreover, when the annealed coal/GCE sensor was applied for the determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine, uric acid, guanine, and adenine commonly contained in blood samples and urine samples, it also exhibited excellent detection performance with strong electrocatalytic activity. This research has opened up the application of coal in electroanalytical chemistry and held great promise for the sensing and biosensing application, which can be promising used as an alternative material of graphene.

Coordination matrix/signal amplifier strategy for simultaneous electrochemical determination of cadmium(ii), lead(ii), copper(ii) and mercury(ii) ions based on polyfurfural film/multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified electrode.