Electrochemical Biosensors: A Solution to Pollution Detection with Reference to Environmental Contaminants

Abstract

The increasing environmental pollution with particular reference to emerging contaminants, toxic heavy elements, and other hazardous agents is a serious concern worldwide. Considering this global issue, there is an urgent need to design and develop strategic measuring techniques with higher efficacy and precision to detect a broader spectrum of numerous contaminants. The development of precise instruments can further help in real-time and in-process monitoring of the generation and release of environmental pollutants from different industrial sectors. Moreover, real-time monitoring can also reduce the excessive consumption of several harsh chemicals and reagents with an added advantage of on-site determination of contaminant composition prior to discharge into the environment. With key scientific advances, electrochemical biosensors have gained considerable attention to solve this problem. Electrochemical biosensors can be an excellent fit as an analytical tool for monitoring programs to implement legislation. Herein, we reviewed the current trends in the use of electrochemical biosensors as novel tools to detect various contaminant types including toxic heavy elements. A particular emphasis was given to screen-printed electrodes, nanowire sensors, and paper-based biosensors and their role in the pollution detection processes. Towards the end, the work is wrapped up with concluding remarks and future perspectives. In summary, electrochemical biosensors and related areas such as bioelectronics, and (bio)-nanotechnology seem to be growing areas that will have a marked influence on the development of new bio-sensing strategies in future studies.

Removal of Enteric Pathogens from Real Wastewater Using Single and Catalytic Ozonation

“…The conventional wastewater treatment reveals difficulty in removing both chemical and biological emerging contaminants from water [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Among these pollutants, pharmaceutical and personal care products, as well as enteric pathogens [8][9][10][11][12], are of concern.…”

Determination of Trace Lead and Cadmium in Decorative Material Using Disposable Screen-Printed Electrode Electrically Modified with Reduced Graphene Oxide/L-Cysteine/Bi-Film

“…Therefore, it is highly urgent to develop a low-cost method to determine the concentrations of Pb(II) and Cd(II) that can conveniently analyze decorative materials in the home environment. Electrochemical stripping analysis (ESA) [10,11] is recognized as a powerful tool for the simultaneous determination of metal ions. In comparison to spectroscopic instruments, the relevant device is easy-to-use, portable, compact and inexpensive [12,13].…”

Graphene Quantum Dot-Based Electrochemical Immunosensors for Biomedical Applications

“…The very first biosensor introduced was an electrochemical glucose sensor by the pioneers Clark and Lyon in 1960s [1]. Since then, biosensors are highly demanded and employed in biomedical applications, particularly for disease monitoring, drug discovery, and detection of biomolecules (i.e., disease biomarkers, pollutants, toxins, and disease-causing microbes) in biological samples such as blood, urine, saliva, sweat, food, and environmental contents [2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”