Nanostructured zinc oxide film for urea sensor

Nanostructured zinc oxide (Nano-ZnO) film has been electrochemically deposited onto indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass plate to co-immobilized urease (Urs) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) for urea detection. The observed reflection planes corresponding to wurtzite ZnO nanoparticles (~25 nm) in XRD diffraction pattern and UV-visible absorption band at 338 nm reveal the formation of Nano-ZnO. Urs-GLDH/Nano-ZnO/ITO bioelectrode shows high sensitivity for urea detection within 10-80 mg/dL and limit of detection as 13.5 mg/dL with regression coefficient as 0.994 and Michaelis-Menten constant (K_m, 6.1 mg/dL) indicating good affinity of Urs-GLDH to urea.     

Polyaniline-carboxymethyl cellulose nanocomposite for cholesterol detection

Cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) has been covalently immobilized onto polyaniline-carboxymethyl cellulose (PANI-CMC) nanocomposite film deposited onto indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass plate using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linker. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic and electrochemical studies have been used to characterize the PANI-CMC/ITO nanocomposite electrode and ChOx/PANI-CMC/ITO bioelectrode. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies reveal the formation of PANI-CMC nanocomposite fibers of size approximately 150 nm in diameter. The ChOx/PANI-CMC/ITO bioelectrode exhibits linearity as 0.5-22 mM, detection limit as 1.31 mM, sensitivity as 0.14 mA/mM cm2, response time as 10 s and shelf-life of about 10 weeks when bioelectrode is stored at 4 degrees C. The low value of Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)) obtained as 2.71 mM reveals high affinity of immobilized ChOx for PANI-CMC/ITO nanocomposite electrode.     

Multicenter uric acid biosensor based on tetrapod-shaped ZnO nanostructures

In this work, we developed a tetrapod-shaped ZnO nanostructure (T-ZnO) biosensor to determine uric acid (UA), which is the primary end product of purine metabolism. The as-fabricated UA sensor presents a higher performance than that of the reported biosensors based on ZnO nanorods and ZnS quantum dots, etc. High-quality ZnO nanotetrapods were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectra (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. A high affinity of uricase/ZnO to UA was revealed by cyclic voltammograms. The biosensor performance has been systematically investigated by amperometric response measurements. A fast current response time is within 9 s. It was also found that the uricase/T-ZnO biosensor presented a high and reproducible sensitivity of 80.0 microA cm(-2) mM(-1) and an experiment limit of detection of 0.8 microM. This study provides an insight utilizing the unique ZnO nanostructure to develop the highly sensitive and rapidly responsive nano-bio devices.     

Potentiometric urea biosensor based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/silica composite material

A novel potentiometric urea biosensor has been fabricated with urease (Urs) immobilized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) embedded in silica matrix deposited on the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass plate. The enzyme Urs was covalently linked with the exposed free –COOH groups of functionalized MWCNTs (F-MWCNTs), which are subsequently incorporated within the silica matrix by sol–gel method. The Urs/MWCNTs/SiO₂/ITO composite modified electrode was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV–visible spectroscopy. The morphologies and electrochemical performance of the modified Urs/MWCNTs/SiO₂/ITO electrode have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and potentiometric method, respectively. The synergistic effect of silica matrix, F-MWCNTs and biocompatibility of Urs/MWCNTs/SiO₂ made the biosensor to have the excellent electro catalytic activity and high stability. The resulting biosensor exhibits a good response performance to urea detection with a wide linear range from 2.18 × 10^? 5 to 1.07 × 10^? 3 M urea. The biosensor shows a short response time of 10–25 s and a high sensitivity of 23 mV/decade/cm².     

Defect induced room temperature ferromagnetism in well-aligned ZnO nanorods grown on Si (100) substrate

In this work, we report the fabrication of high quality single-crystalline ZnO nanorod arrays which were grown on the silicon (Si) substrate using a microwave assisted solution method. The as grown nanorods were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), photo-luminescence (PL) and magnetization measurements. The XRD results indicated that the ZnO nanorods are well oriented with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate and have single phase nature with the wurtzite structure. FE-SEM results showed that the length and diameter of the well aligned rods is about ~ 1 μm and ~ 100 nm respectively, having aspect ratio of 20-30. Room-temperature PL spectrum of the as-grown ZnO nanorods reveals a near-band-edge (NBE) emission peak and defect induced green light emission. The green light emission band at ~ 583 nm might be attributed to surface oxygen vacancies or defects. Magnetization measurements show that the ZnO nanorods exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism which may result due to the presence of defects in the ZnO nanorods.     

自供能ZnO/ZnS异质结紫外探测器的性能研究

用化学浴法在ZnO纳米棒表面沉积ZnS制备出ZnO/ZnS核壳纳米棒阵列,使用SEM、XRD和XPS等手段表征了样品的形貌、结构和成分。结果表明,ZnO/ZnS核壳纳米棒阵列表面粗糙,生长致密、分布均匀,其平均直径约为150 nm。以Pt为对电极组装的自供能ZnO/ZnS异质结紫外探测器,对紫外光具有很好的探测性能,能循环工作且性能稳定。这种探测器对微弱的紫外光也有较强的响应和较高的光敏性,且随着光强度的提高光电流密度线性增大。与自供能ZnO纳米棒紫外探测器相比,ZnO/ZnS异质结紫外探测器具有更高的响应速度,上升时间和下降时间分别提高到0.02 s和0.03 s。     

Electrophoretically deposited nano-structured polyaniline film for glucose sensing

Electrophoretically deposited nano-structured polyaniline (NS-PANI) film has been utilized for fabrication of glucose biosensor by covalent immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOx) using N-ethyl-N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide chemistry. This GOx/NS-PANI/ITO bioelectrode has been characterized using scanning electron microscopy, FT-IR, UV-Visible spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) techniques. The response studies carried out on GOx/NS-PANI/ITO bioelectrode using DPV and photometric studies reveal linearity up to 400 mgdL^− 1 with sensitivity as 1.05 × 10^− 4 mA mg^− 1 dL and 3.887 × 10^− 5 Abs mg^− 1 dL, respectively. The lower value of Michaelis-Menten constant obtained for immobilized GOx (2.1 mM) compared with that of free GOx (5.85 mM) suggests high affinity of enzyme to this matrix.     

Lipase immobilized on nanostructured cerium oxide thin film coated on transparent conducting oxide electrode for butyrin sensing

Nanostructured cerium oxide (CeO₂) thin films were deposited on transparent conducting oxide (TCO) substrate using spray pyrolysis technique with cerium nitrate salt, Ce(NO₃)₃·6H₂O as precursor. Fluorine doped cadmium oxide (CdO:F) thin film prepared using spray pyrolysis technique acts as the TCO film and hence the bare electrode. The structural, morphological and elemental characterizations of the films were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) respectively. The diffraction peak positions in XRD confirmed the formation of highly crystalline ceria with cubic structure and FE-SEM images showed uniform adherent films with granular morphology. The band gaps of CeO₂ and TCO were found to be 3.2 eV and 2.6 eV respectively. Lipase enzyme was physisorbed on the surface of CeO₂/TCO film to form the lipase/nano-CeO₂/TCO bioelectrode. Sensing studies were carried out using cyclic voltammetry and amperometry, with lipase/nano-CeO₂/TCO as working electrode and tributyrin as substrate. The mediator-free biosensor with nanointerface exhibited excellent linearity (0.33–1.98 mM) with a lowest detection limit of 2 μM with sharp response time of 5 s and a shelf life of about 6 weeks.     

Magnetic Properties of One-Dimensional Sm-Doped ZnO Nanostructures Fabricated by Hydrothermal Method

Well-defined ZnO and Sm-doped nanorods have been successfully fabricated by a low temperature hydrothermal process. The XRD patterns of both compositions with a single diffraction peak (002) show the same wurtzite hexagonal structure. The radius of Sm-ZnO nanorods observed by FE-SEM is smaller than that of pure ZnO, indicating a reduction of the growth rate by the doping of Sm. Ferromagnetism is observed from the results of the magnetization measurements. The increase of the saturation magnetization and decrease of coercivity reveal an association with the increase of oxygen vacancies induced by the doping of Sm in the nanorods.     

CuO codoped ZnO based nanostructured materials for sensitive chemical sensor applications

Due to numerous potential applications of semiconductor transition metal-doped nanomaterials and the great advantages of hydrothermal synthesis in both cost and environmental impact, a significant effort has been employed for growth of copper oxide codoped zinc oxide (CuO codoped ZnO) nanostructures via a hydrothermal route at room conditions. The structural and optical properties of the CuO codoped ZnO nanorods were characterized using various techniques such as UV-visible, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), etc. The sensing performance has been executed by a simple and reliable I-V technique, where aqueous ammonia is considered as a target analyte. CuO codoped ZnO nanorods of thin film with conducting coating agents on silver electrodes (AgE, surface area of 0.0216 cm(2)) displayed good sensitivity, stability, and reproducibility. The calibration plot is linear over the large dynamic range, where the sensitivity is approximately 1.549 ± 0.10 μA cm(-2 )mM(-1) with a detection limit of 8.9 ± 0.2 μM, based on signal/noise ratio in short response time. Hence, on the bottom of the perceptive communication between structures, morphologies, and properties, it is displayed that the morphologies and the optical characteristics can be extended to a large scale in transition-metal-doped ZnO nanomaterials and efficient chemical sensors applications.     

Potentiometric cholesterol biosensor based on ZnO nanorods chemically grown on Ag wire

An electrochemical biosensor based on ZnO nanorods for potentiometric cholesterol determination is proposed. Hexagon-shaped ZnO nanorods were directly grown on a silver wire having a diameter of 250 μm using low temperature aqueous chemical approach that produced ZnO nanorods with a diameter of 125-250 nm and a length of ~ 1 μm. Cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) was immobilized by a physical adsorption method onto ZnO nanorods. The electrochemical response of the ChOx/ZnO/Ag biosensor against a standard reference electrode (Ag/AgCl) was investigated as a logarithmic function of the cholesterol concentration (1 × 10⁻⁶ M to 1 × 10⁻² M) showing good linearity with a sensitivity of 35.2 mV per decade and the stable output signal was attained at around 10 s.     

A novel urea biosensor based on zirconia

Electrochemically deposited biocompatible zirconia (ZrO₂) film on gold coated glass electrodes has been utilized for the fabrication of urea biosensor. The prepared ZrO₂ films and bioelectrodes have been characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical techniques, respectively. The urea biosensor, fabricated by immobilizing mixed enzyme [urease (Urs) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH)] on this nanobiomaterial, shows linearity up to 40 mg dL^− 1 of analyte (urea) and sensitivity of 0.071 μA/(mM cm^− 2) with stability up to 4 months when stored at 4 °C. The low value of Michaelis-Menten constant (K_m) estimated using Hans plot as 0.5 mM indicates enhancement in the affinity and/or activity of enzyme attached to this nanostructured biocompatible matrix.     

Poly (pyrrole-co-<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-methyl pyrrole) for application to cholesterol sensor

Cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) has been electrochemically entrapped onto p-toluene sulphonate (PTS) doped poly (pyrrole-co-N-methyl pyrrole) (1:1) on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass plates. This ChOx-copolymer-PTS/ITO bioelectrode has been characterized using cyclic voltammetry (CV), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The cholesterol bioelectrode shows response time of 19 s, linearity from 50 to 400 mg/dL as a function of cholesterol concentration. It exhibits optimum pH range between 6.5 and 7.5, shelf-life of up to 6 weeks at 4 °C and shows almost undisturbed response in presence of interferents like ascorbic acid, uric acid and glucose.     

Temperature dependant characteristics of zinc oxide nanorods based heterojunction diode

Temperature-dependant characteristics of heterojunction diode made by n-ZnO nanorods grown on p-silicon substrates has been characterized and demonstrated in this paper. ZnO nanorods were grown onto the silicon substrate via simple thermal evaporation process by using metallic zinc powder in the presence of oxygen at approximately 550 degrees C without the use of any metal catalysts or additives. The as-grown ZnO nanorods were characterized in terms of their structural and optical properties. The detailed structural studies by XRD, TEM, HRTEM and SAED revealed that the grown nanorods are well-crystalline with the wurtzite hexagonal phase and preferentially grown along the [0001] direction. The as-grown n-ZnO nanorods grown on p-Si substrate were used to fabricate p-n heterojunction diode. The fabricated p-n junction diode attained almost similar turn-on voltage of approximately 0.6 V. The values of turn-on voltage and least current are same with the variations of temperature (i.e., 27 degrees C, 70 degrees C and 130 degrees C).     

Epitaxial growth of the zinc oxide nanorods, their characterization and in vitro biocompatibility studies

Here, we have synthesized Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanorods at room temperature using zinc acetate and hexamethylenetetramine as precursors followed by characterization using X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infra red spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy. The growth of the synthesized ZnO was found to be very close to its hexagonal nature, which is confirmed by XRD. The nanorods were grown perpendicular to the long-axis and grew along the [001] direction, which is the nature of ZnO growth. The morphology of the synthesized ZnO nanorods was also confirmed by SEM. The size of the nanorod was estimated to be around 20-25?nm in diameter and approximately 50-60?nm in length. Our biocompatibility studies using synthesized ZnO showed no significant dose- or time-dependent increase in the formation of free radicals, accumulation of peroxidative products, antioxidant depletion or loss of cell viability on lung epithelial cells.     

Influence of post-annealing temperature on the material properties of zinc oxide nanorods

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is an emerging optoelectronic material in large area electronic applications due to its various functional behaviors. We present the fabrication and the characterization of ZnO nanorods. The ZnO nanorods were synthesized using sol-gel hydrothermal technique on oxidized silicon substrates. Different post-annealing temperatures were explored in the sol-gel hydrothermal synthesis of the ZnO nanorods. The surface morphology of the ZnO nanorods were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM). In order to investigate the structural properties, the ZnO nanorods were measured using X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The optical properties were measured using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The influence of the post-annealing temperature on the realized ZnO nanorods will be revealed and discussed in this paper.     

Effects of precursor concentrations and thermal annealing on ZnO nanorods grown by hydrothermal method

ZnO nanorods were grown on spin-coated ZnO seed layers by hydrothermal method. The ZnO nanorods were grown with various precursor concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.3 M. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photoluminescence (PL) were carried out to investigate the structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanorods. The average diameter and length of the ZnO nanorods is increased as the precursor concentration increased from 0.01 to 0.3 M. From XRD, the intensity of ZnO (002) peak is increased and full width at half maximum (FWHM) of ZnO (002) decreased as the precursor concentration increased. The FWHM of near-band-edge emission (NBE) decreased and intensity ratio of the NBE to the deep-level emission (DLE) increased as the precursor concentration increased which indicated the optical property is improved. The DLE is red-shifted from yellow- to red-emission and its intensity is increased as the annealing temperature increased due to thermal diffusion process.     

ZnO@CdS core–shell thin film: fabrication and enhancement of exciton life time by CdS nanoparticle

In the present study photoluminescence behavior of ZnO and ZnO@CdS core–shell nanorods film has been reported. ZnO nanorods were grown on the glass coated indium tin oxide (ITO) surface by seeding ZnO particle followed with nanorods growth. These nanorods were coated with CdS by chemical bath deposition techniques to have ZnO@CdS thin film and further annealed at 200 °C for their adherence to the ITO surface. The coating was characterized for surface morphology using SEM and optical behavior using UV–visible spectrophotometer. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) was used for compositional analysis and time resolve photoluminescence decay for excitons life time measurement. The absorption spectrum reveals that the absorption edge of ZnO@CdS core–shell heterostructure shifted to 480 nm in the visible region whereas ZnO nanorods have absorption maxima at 360 nm. The excitons lifetime of ZnO@CdS was found to be increased with the thickness of the CdS layer on ZnO nanorod. These ZnO@CdS core–shell nanostructures will be of great use in the field of photovoltaic cell and photocatalysis in a UV–visible region.     

燃料对溶液燃烧合成ZnO纳米棒微观形貌和光催化性能的影响

以蔗糖、柠檬酸、乙二醇和尿素为燃料, Zn(NO₃)₂为氧化剂/锌源, 采用溶液燃烧法合成ZnO纳米棒。借助XRD、SEM、比表面分析和光谱吸收等测试方法, 考察了不同燃料对粉体的物相组成、微观形貌、比表面积和光催化性能的影响。结果表明: 在点燃温度500℃下, 各燃料配制的前驱体溶液均可发生燃烧反应合成六方相ZnO纳米棒, 其平均径向尺寸小于100 nm, 且以尿素为燃料合成的ZnO晶形更完整, 以蔗糖为燃料合成的ZnO粉体具有最大的比表面积(24.83 m²/g)。光催化实验表明, 以蔗糖为燃料合成的ZnO粉体光催化能力最佳, 在高压汞灯照射60 min条件下, 其对甲基橙溶液(10 mg/L)的降解率可达98.2%, 且光催化反应符合一级动力学方程。     

The effects of using ALD-grown ZnO buffer layers on the properties of indium tin oxide grown by chemical solution deposition

In comparison to ITO films prepared by chemical solution deposition on bare substrates, the use of a ZnO buffer layer and Al2O3 barrier layer has been shown to have a significant effect on morphology, measured sheet resistance and therefore resistivity. In the case of quartz substrates, ITO resistivity decreased from 9.6 x 10(-3) ohms cm to 4.3 x 10(-3) ohms cm on incorporation of a ZnO buffer layer and Al2O3 barrier layer, both grown by ALD. A change in surface morphology was observed, due to the presence of the buffer layer, however, the ZnO buffer layer was not found to influence the XRD pattern of the ITO films.