Photoelectrochemical sensing is an attractive tool for rapid and accurate monitor of chemical and biochemical mole-cules. Compared with conventional analysis techniques, photoelectrochemical sensing exhibits unique technique superiority and has become a hot topic in material chemis-try and analytical chemistry. This review provides an over-view of the important advances in the construction and application of photoelectrochemical sensing in recent year. In the first segment, we briefly introduce the general princi-ple and technical characteristic of photoelectrochemical sensing. In the subsequent sections, we primarily devote to elaborating the typical strategies of design and engineering photoactive materials for improve the light excitation as well as charge separation/transfer to modulate the perfor-mance of photoelectrochemical sensing system. Addition-ally, the current research status of photoelectrochemical sensing with a particular emphasis on the innovative sens-ing devices and detection modes for achieving specific sensing functions is describes in detail with the illustrative examples. Finally, the critical challenges on the journey to achieve real-life applications of photoelectrochemical sens-ing and the viable solutions for solving these problems as well as the future research perspectives are discussed.

Recent Advances in Photoelectrochemical Sensing: From Engineered Photoactive Materials to Sensing Devices and Detection Modes.

Nucleic Acid Biosensors: Recent Advances and Perspectives

Recent advances in nanomaterial-based biosensors for antibiotics detection.

As a newly developed technique, photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunoassays have attracted great attention in recent years because of their low cost and desirable sensitivity. Because the detection signal originates from the photoelectric conversion of photoelectric materials, the appearance and application of quantum dots (QDs), which possess unique photophysical properties and regulated optoelectronic characteristics, has taken the development of PEC immunoassays to new heights. This review concisely introduces the general mechanism of QDs-based photoelectric conversion for immunoassays and summarizes the current advances in QD applications in immunoassays. Given that signal strategies and photoactive materials are the key elements in PEC biosensor systems, we comprehensively highlight the state-of-the-art signaling strategies and various applications of QDs in PEC immunoassays to introduce advances in QDs-based PEC immunoassays. Finally, challenges and future developmental trends are briefly discussed.

Current Advances in Quantum‐Dots‐Based Photoelectrochemical Immunoassays

Bio-bar-code-based photoelectrochemical immunoassay for sensitive detection of prostate-specific antigen using rolling circle amplification and enzymatic biocatalytic precipitation.

A novel cathodic “signal-off” strategy was proposed for photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensing of oxytetracycline (OTC). The PEC sensor was constructed by employing a p-type semiconductor BiOI doped with graphene (G) as photoactive species and OTC-binding aptamer as a recognition element. The morphological structure and crystalline phases of obtained BiOI-G nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The UV–visible absorption spectroscopic analysis indicated that doping of BiOI with graphene improved the absorption of materials in the visible light region. Moreover, graphene could facilitate the electron transfer of BiOI modified electrode. As a result, the cathodic photocurrent response of BiOI under visible light irradiation was significantly promoted when a suitable amount of graphene was doped. When amine-functionalized OTC-binding aptamer was immobilized on the BiOI-G modified electrode, a cathodic PEC aptasensor was fabricated, which exhibited...

A Cathodic “Signal-off” Photoelectrochemical Aptasensor for Ultrasensitive and Selective Detection of Oxytetracycline

A self-powered sensing system possesses the capacity of harvesting energy from the environment and has no requirement for external electrical power supply during the chemical sensing of analytes. Herein, we design an enzyme-free self-powered sensing platform based on a photofuel cell (PFC) driven by visible-light, using glucose as a model analyte. The fabricated PFC consists of a Ni(OH)2/CdS/TiO2 photoanode and a hemin-graphene (HG) nanocomposite coated cathode in separated chambers. Under visible-light irradiation, glucose in the anodic chamber is facilely oxidized on Ni(OH)2/CdS/TiO2 while H2O2 in the cathodic chamber is catalytically reduced by HG, which generates a certain cell output sensitive to the variation of glucose concentration. Thus, a PFC based self-powered sensor is realized for glucose detection. Compared to the existing enzymatic self-powered glucose sensors, our proposed PFC based strategy exhibits much lower detection concentration. Moreover, it avoids the limitation of conventional enz...

Visible-Light Induced Self-Powered Sensing Platform Based on a Photofuel Cell

A visible light-induced self-powered sensor for selective detection of bisphenol A (BPA) based on photofuel cell (PFC) was proposed. The PFC was constructed with a Pt cathode and a photoanode which was prepared by modifying fluoride doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). The MIP/g-C 3 N 4 /FTO photoanode possessed high photoelectrocatalytic activity of g-C 3 N 4 and binding ability of MIP towards BPA. Under visible light illumination, the PFC generated different output power densities towards varied concentrations of BPA, and thus it was proposed as a self-powered sensor for BPA. The maximum output power density of the sensor was linearly proportional to the logarithm of BPA concentration ranging from 5 to 100 μmol L −1 . Moreover, the proposed self-powered sensor exhibited good selectivity, reproducibility and stability for BPA detection.

A self-powered sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer-coupled graphitic carbon nitride photoanode for selective detection of bisphenol A

A photocathode-based photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) was fabricated and proposed as a self-powered sensor for p-nitrophenol (p-NP) detection. The PFC was comprised of a photocathode and an anode in separated chambers, which could generate suitable power output under photoirradiation to drive the sensing process. In this device, p-type PbS quantum dots-modified glass carbon electrode (GCE) served as the photocathode for the reduction of p-NP under photoirradiation while graphene-modified GCE was employed as the anode for the oxidation of ascorbic acid. In order to improve the selectivity of the PFC sensor, p-NP binding molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was introduced on the photocathode. Under optimal conditions, the open circuit voltage of the constructed PFC sensor was found to sensitively respond to p-NP in a wide concentration range from 0.05 μM to 20 μM. The proposed sensor exhibited high selectivity, good reproducibility, and stability, demonstrating the successful combination of MIP with photocatho...

Yaohua Yang

Papers

A Cathodic “Signal-off” Photoelectrochemical Aptasensor for Ultrasensitive and Selective Detection of Oxytetracycline

Visible-Light Induced Self-Powered Sensing Platform Based on a Photofuel Cell

A self-powered sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer-coupled graphitic carbon nitride photoanode for selective detection of bisphenol A

Highly Selective Self-Powered Sensing Platform for p-Nitrophenol Detection Constructed with a Photocathode-Based Photocatalytic Fuel Cell.

Dual non-enzymatic glucose sensing on Ni(OH)2/TiO2 photoanode under visible light illumination