Trends in Analytical Chemistry最新文献

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungus, which has carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and immunotoxicity, posing a serious hazard to food safety and public health. Therefore, it is of great importance to exploit rapid, sensitive, and universal analytical methods for mycotoxins detection to safeguard food safety and public health. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) has been regarded as a promising analytical technology for monitoring mycotoxins in foods due to zero background and high sensitivity. Signal amplification strategies take vital roles in developing advanced ECL biosensors with high sensitiveness. Besides, deep insights into sensing formats and patterns will favour in designing innovative ECL sensors. In this review, the latest developments in various ECL sensors for mycotoxins assays are summarized, with emphasis on signal enhancement strategies and sensing formats in their applications. The opportunities and challenges are also discussed in the development and application of advanced ECL sensors for mycotoxins analysis.

Neurological Disorders (NDs) have become more prevalent with the increase of life expectancy. Wearable devices are particularly appealing for NDs since they would strongly facilitate the continuous health status monitoring in people that are not capable of communicating their needs or discomfort. This review summarizes the studies over the past five years reported in the literature regarding sampling and biosensing solutions for the development of wearable electroanalytical platforms. Our survey is mainly focused on skin-contact wearable biosensors, with a special emphasis on sweat sampling and analysis using biocompatible materials. Examples of devices for monitoring chemical parameters involved in the wellbeing of ND patients are discussed.

In recent years, there has been extensive research into flexible sensors within the field of precision agriculture. This interest stems from their ability to integrate a diverse array of functional materials, including SERS-active substrates, noble metal nanoparticles, graphene, MXenes, and flexible transparent polymer films. In comparison to conventional sensors, flexible sensors present enhanced sensitivity, broader versatility, and superior stability. This review systematically illustrates the preparation methods and potential applications of flexible sensors in agricultural field. Furthermore, the article underscores the promising research prospects in agricultural detection enabled by these advancements.

Recently, numerous exceptional optical nanomaterials have attracted increasing attention due to their superiority in improving assay performance of fluorescent biosensors for early disease diagnosis. Among them, carbon dots (CDs) stand out due to their unique optical properties, non-toxicity, cheap synthesis costs, and good biocompatibility. As extremely advantageous fluorescent probes, the CDs-based fluorescent biosensors are expected to become great attractive candidates for early clinical disease diagnosis. This review has carefully summarized the research progress of CDs-based fluorescence biosensors for early disease diagnosis. Firstly, the common synthesis methods, luminescent mechanisms, and sensing mechanisms of CDs were briefly introduced and discussed. Subsequently, the various applications of CDs in fluorescence biosensing and biological imaging were emphasized, which were reasonably classified based on recognition modes, including direct identification, identification through medium, enzyme, antibody, aptamer, and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). Eventually, the future opportunities, challenges, and development trends of CDs-based fluorescent biosensors in early disease diagnosis were also carefully discussed.

Single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) are single base changes that appear in the coding regions and non-coding regions. SNVs are closely related to multiple physiological and pathological processes, and may act as important biomarkers. Consequently, accurate and sensitive identification of SNVs is critical for medical diagnosis and disease treatment. In recent years, a series of novel SNV detection methods have been developed, but an overview of in vitro detection and in vivo imaging of SNVs is lacking. Herein, we review the emerging methods for in vitro and in vivo SNV assays in the past few years. The in vitro SNV detection methods are categorized into five types including fluorescent, colorimetric, electrochemical, electrochemiluminescent, and chemiluminescent methods, while the in vivo SNV assays mainly rely on fluorescence imaging. We summarize the characteristics, principles, performances, and applications of these methods, and discuss the existing challenges and trends in this area.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a multifunctional glycoprotein that belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily and plays dual regulatory roles in cancer and fetal development. Due to its crucial biological functions in cancer regulation, CEA levels elevate abnormally in colorectal, breast, lung, gastric, medullary thyroid, and pancreatic cancers. Furthermore, conditions unrelated to neoplasms, such as ulcerative pancreatitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cirrhosis, colitis, hypothyroidism, Crohn's disease, and smoking are associated with increased CEA levels. Therefore, developing precise and sensitive strategies for monitoring CEA holds significant importance. This study emphasizes the successful creating of detection methods through surface modification, bio-functionalization, and nano-fabrication to enable effective detection of CEA at trace levels (with a threshold of 20 ng mL⁻¹). It explores various optical and electrochemical (EC) sensors, including electrochemiluminescence (ECL), fluorometric, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), photoelectrochemical (PEC), and colorimetric methods. The study highlights the integrating of innovative nanomaterials with a range of bioreceptor elements, including peptides, aptamers (Apt), DNA, enzymes, and antibodies (Abs), to enhance the effectiveness of CEA tracking and quantification, which are essential for analytical methods. Additionally, the research identifies gaps, challenges, and areas for improvement in CEA biosensing methods, research, and technology. This review represents an unprecedented assessment of CEA tracking through the application of biosensor technology.

The electronic nose, commonly referred to as e-nose, has become an essential tool for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which play critical roles in air quality, climate change, and human health. Inspired from the human olfactory system, e-noses offer key advantages in portability and cost-effectiveness, making them indispensable for identifying a series of VOCs. This review explores advancements in e-nose technology for VOC detection, detailing the operational principles of various sensors, and assessing their strengths and weaknesses. It also examines the conventional and novel algorithms for VOC pattern recognition, highlighting their role in enhancing detection accuracy and application robustness. Moreover, the review discusses the diverse applications of e-noses, ranging from environmental monitoring to critical sectors such as food processing and medical diagnostics. Finally, the review addresses current challenges in e-nose applications, such as selectivity and sensitivity, and offers insights into emerging trends and future perspectives in e-nose development.

The evolving landscape of agri-food systems, driven by climate change and population growth, necessitates innovative approaches to ensure food integrity, safety, and sustainability. This review explores the role of data fusion strategies, particularly focusing on non-destructive spectroscopic sensors (NDSS) in three key application contexts: in-field monitoring, on/in-line food processing, and food quality authentication. Various data fusion scenarios, including fusing spectra from different spectroscopic platforms, integrating images and spectra, and combining non-spectroscopic sensor data with spectroscopic ones are reviewed. Focus is set on practical considerations, such as selecting the level of data fusion, defining blocks, variable selection, and validation methods, highlighting the importance of tailored approaches based on research aims and data characteristics.

While combining information from diverse sensors generally enhances information extraction and modelling performance, their implementation in routine applications is still limited and especially studies focused on data fusion models’ performance over time and their maintenance are lacking.

To date, food safety is vulnerable to failure at all scales to pose serious risks to human health. The practical feasibility of luminescent-based sensing systems has been recognized in the rapid monitoring of such risk with many prominent properties. In this regard, the potential of aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-based luminescent nanomaterials lies in their sensing capability with the distinct and intriguing emission properties. Nonetheless, more efforts should be put to enhance their emissions for the upscaled application (e.g., provision of AIE luminogens (AIEgens) in limited molecular spaces through an intramolecular motion restriction mechanism), as the incorporation of AIEgens into porous frameworks can greatly benefit from high luminescent efficiency, sensitivity, and accuracy. This review offers a comprehensive evaluation on the sensing applications of various AIEgen-based luminescent porous materials against hazardous foodborne substances along with the discussions on the mechanisms of AIE.

Label-free electrochemical immunosensors (ELFIs) are becoming increasingly indispensable tools in life science, medicine, chemistry, and biotechnology. They combine the rapidity and high sensitivity of label-free approaches, without additional assay reagents and tedious procedures, with the high-affinity bio-detection characteristic of antigen-antibody interactions, often integrated into miniaturised lab-on-a-chip electrochemical devices.

This review delves into innovative technologies and emerging trends in ELFIs, covering transduction principles, device fabrication, and application. With it, we want to aid researchers, especially those venturing into ELFIs for the first time, by guiding them through the challenges associated with their development. Additionally, this work intends to provide knowledgeable users and curious readers a glimpse into the realm of electrochemical label-free strategies, demonstrating the method's dependability, practical applicability (i.e., environmental, clinical and food safety fields) and inherent limitations.