A modular platform based on electrospun carbon nanofibers and poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel for sensor applications

Abstract

Modular sensor platforms are a fashion approach that allows the use of advanced materials to promote the evolution of portable electrochemical sensors. A modular platform building by the combination of carbonized poly(acrylonitrile) electrospun mat (C‐PAN; fiber diameter ca. 300 nm) and a poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide; PNIPAm) hydrogel was assayed. The individual components of the platform were physicochemically characterized before assembling. The swelling behavior and the capacity of sorption of a redox complex tris(1,10‐phenanthroline)iron(II) of the polymeric hydrogel were evaluated. Moreover, the morphological aspects of the electrospun fibers before and after carbonization were analyzed. Finally, cyclic voltammetry and chronocoulometry experiments were performed to analyze the electrochemical performance of the modular platform. In this work, we demonstrated that the platform takes advantage of the3D structure of the electrospun mat and the selective sorption of the hydrogel for the electrochemical sensing target analyte. The iron sensing using its complexation into the tris(1,10‐phenanthroline)iron(II) redox complex was assessed by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The anodic peak current showed a linear relation versus iron complex concentration in the range of 10–80 μmol L−1 with a detection limit of 0.103 μmol L−1. All the results herein presented suggest that a synergistic combination of large surface area carbon fiber electrodes and ion retaining hydrogel has been achieved.

The effect of oil raw material composition in the synthesis of bio‐sorbents based on inverse vulcanization on the ability to remediate hydrocarbon‐contaminated water. A novel method for decontaminating water/fuel emulsions

“…After each cycle, the polymer was lightly dried, weighed, and then reintroduced into the same contaminant. To determine the sorption at equilibrium, each previously dried polymer was fully immersed in the hydrocarbon and left at room temperature for 24 hours to ensure the material reached a stable and unchanging mass 61 . All these experiments were conducted in triplicate, independently for each polymer and within each hydrocarbon solution.…”

Hydrogels for Chemical Sensing and Biosensing

“…This sensor can selectively detect analytes with divalent iron ion complexes as sensing targets. [ 87 ] Analogously, Zhong et al. developed an ion‐sensitive hydrogel for the analysis of lead ions, which are among the most common toxic and heavy metals found in the environment.…”