Due to the significance of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) in biological systems and its practical applications, the development of efficient electrochemical H(2)O(2) sensors holds a special attraction for researchers Various materials such as Prussian blue (PB), heme proteins, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and transition metals have been applied to the construction of H(2)O(2) sensors In this article, the electrocatalytic H(2)O(2) determinations are mainly focused on because they can provide a superior sensing performance over non-electrocatalytic ones The synergetic effect between nanotechnology and electrochemical H(2)O(2) determination is also highlighted in various aspects In addition, some recent progress for in vivo H(2)O(2) measurements is also presented Finally, the future prospects for more efficient H(2)O(2) sensing are discussed

Recent advances in electrochemical sensing for hydrogen peroxide: a review

This review covers advances in electrochemical and biochemical sensor development and usage during 2010 and 2011 In choosing scholarly articles to contribute to this review, special emphasis was placed on work published in the areas of reference electrodes, potentiometric sensors, voltammetric sensors, amperometric sensors, biosensors, immunosensors, and mass sensors In the past two years there have been a number of important papers, that do not fall into the general subsections contained within the larger sections Such novel advances are very important for the field of electrochemical sensors as they open up new avenues and methods for future research Each section above contains a subsection titled “Other Papers of Interest” that includes such articles and describes their importance to the field in general For example, while most electrochemical techniques for sensing analytes of interest are based on the changes in potential or current, Shan et al1 have developed a completely novel method for performing electrochemical measurements In their work, they report a method for imaging local electrochemical current using the optical signal of the electrode surface generated from a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) The electrochemical current image is based on the fact that the current density can be easily calculated from the local SPR signal The authors demonstrated this concept by imaging traces of TNT on a fingerprint on a gold substrate

Full articles and reviews were primarily amassed by searching the SciFinder Scholar and ISI Web of Knowledge Additional articles were found through alternate databases or by perusing analytical journals for pertinent publications Due to the reference limitation, only publications written in English were considered for inclusion Obviously, there have been more published accounts of groundbreaking work with electrochemical and biochemical sensors than those covered here This review is a small sampling of the available literature and not intended to cover every advance of the past two years The literature chosen focuses on new trends in materials, techniques, and clinically relevant applications of novel sensors To ensure proper coverage of these trends, theoretical publications and applications of previously reported sensor development were excluded

We want to remind our readers that this review is not intended to provide comprehensive coverage of electrochemical sensor development, but rather to provide a glimpse of the available depth of knowledge published in the past two years This review is meant to focus on novel methods and materials, with a particular focus on the increasing use of graphene sheets for sensor material development For readers seeking more information on the general principles behind electrochemical sensors and electrochemical methods, we recommend other sources with a broader scope2, 3 Electrochemical sensor research is continually providing new insights into a variety of fields and providing a breadth of relevant literature that is worthy of inclusion in this review Unfortunately, it is impossible to cover each publication and unintentional oversights are inevitable We sincerely apologize to the authors of electrochemical and biochemical sensor publications that were inadvertently overlooked

Electrochemical Sensors and Biosensors

If two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are ever to be utilized as components of practical, macroscopic devices on a large scale, there is a complementary need to controllably assemble these 2D building blocks into more sophisticated and hierarchical three-dimensional (3D) architectures. Such a capability is key to design and build complex, functional devices with tailored properties. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the various experimental strategies currently used to fabricate the 3D macro-structures of 2D nanomaterials. Additionally, various approaches for the decoration of the 3D macro-structures with organic molecules, polymers, and inorganic materials are reviewed. Finally, we discuss the applications of 3D macro-structures, especially in the areas of energy, environment, sensing, and electronics, and describe the existing challenges and the outlook for this fast emerging field.

Three-dimensional macro-structures of two-dimensional nanomaterials

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted much attention in the field of electrochemical energy storage due to their high energy density and low cost. However, the "shuttle effect" of the sulfur cathode, resulting in poor cyclic performance, is a big barrier for the development of Li-S batteries. Herein, a novel sulfur cathode integrating sulfur, flexible carbon cloth, and metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived N-doped carbon nanoarrays with embedded CoP (CC@CoP/C) is designed. These unique flexible nanoarrays with embedded polar CoP nanoparticles not only offer enough voids for volume expansion to maintain the structural stability during the electrochemical process, but also promote the physical encapsulation and chemical entrapment of all sulfur species. Such designed CC@CoP/C cathodes with synergistic confinement (physical adsorption and chemical interactions) for soluble intermediate lithium polysulfides possess high sulfur loadings (as high as 4.17 mg cm-2 ) and exhibit large specific capacities at different C-rates. Specially, an outstanding long-term cycling performance can be reached. For example, an ultralow decay of 0.016% per cycle during the whole 600 cycles at a high current density of 2C is displayed. The current work provides a promising design strategy for high-energy-density Li-S batteries.

Self-Supported and Flexible Sulfur Cathode Enabled via Synergistic Confinement for High-Energy-Density Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

A novel nonenzymatic hydrogen peroxide sensor based on Ag–MnO2–MWCNTs nanocomposites

A highly sensitive hydrogen peroxide amperometric sensor based on MnO2-modified vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes.

Developing efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts toward oxygen/hydrogen evolution reactions is crucial for electrochemical water splitting toward hydrogen production. The high‐performance electrocatalysts depend on the catalytically active and highly accessible reaction sites and their structural robustness, while the rational design of such electrocatalysts with desired features avoiding tedious manufacture is still challenging. Here, a facile method is reported to synthesize mesoporous and heterostructured transition metal oxides strongly anchored on a nickel skeleton (MH‐TMO) containing identified Fe–Cu oxide interfaces with high intrinsic activity, easy accessibility for reaction intermediates, and long‐term stability for alkaline oxygen/hydrogen evolution reactions. The MH‐TMO with the electrocatalytically active Fe–O–Cu bridge has an optimal oxygen binding energy to facilitate adsorption/desorption of oxygen intermediates for oxygen molecules. Associated with the high mass transport through the nanoporous structure, MH‐TMO exhibits impressive oxygen evolution reaction catalysis, with an extremely low overpotential of around 0.22 V at 10 mA cm−2 and low Tafel slope (44.5 mV dec−1) in 1.0 M KOH, realizing a current density of 100 mA cm−2 with an overpotential as low as 0.26 V. As a result, the alkaline electrolyzer assembled by the bifunctional MH‐TMO catalysts operates with an outstanding overall water‐splitting output (1.49 V@10 mA cm−2), outperforming one assembled with noble‐metal‐based catalysts.

Lattice‐Matching Formed Mesoporous Transition Metal Oxide Heterostructures Advance Water Splitting by Active Fe–O–Cu Bridges

A highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for determination of L-cysteine (CySH) is presented. It is based on vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with Pt nanoparticles by magnetron sputtering deposition. The morphology of the nanocomposite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive. The electrochemistry of CySH was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The mechanism for the electrochemical reaction of CySH at the modified electrode at different pH values is discussed. The electrode exhibits a higher electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of CySH than comparable other electrodes. It displays a linear dependence (R
 2 = 0.9980) on the concentration of CySH in the range between 1 and 500 μM and at an applied potential of +0.45 V, a remarkably low detection limit of 0.5 μM (S/N = 3), and an outstandingly high sensitivity of 1.42 × 103 μA mM−1 cm−2, which is the highest value ever reported. The electrode also is highly inert towards other amino acids, creatinine and urea. The sensor was applied to the determination of CySH in urine with satisfactory recovery, thus demonstrating its potential for practical applications.

Min-Ling Ye

Papers

A highly sensitive hydrogen peroxide amperometric sensor based on MnO2-modified vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes.

Lattice‐Matching Formed Mesoporous Transition Metal Oxide Heterostructures Advance Water Splitting by Active Fe–O–Cu Bridges

Sputtering deposition of Pt nanoparticles on vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes for sensing L-cysteine

Voltammetric Behavior of Rutin at a Vertically Aligned Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Electrode