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Carbon-dot wrapped ZnO nanoparticle-based photoelectrochemical sensor for selective monitoring of H2O2 released from cancer cells

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Abstract

This study reports on a simple approach for the fabrication of an electrode modified with biocompatible C-dot wrapped ZnO nanoparticles for selective photoelectrochemical monitoring of H2O2 released from living cells. The biocompatibility of the ZnO nanoparticles was confirmed through in-vitro cellular testing using the MTT assay on Huh7 cell lines. The ZnO nanoparticles wrapped with dopamine-derived C-dots possess numerous catalytically active sites, excessive surface defects, good electrical conductivity, and efficient separation ability of photo-induced electrons and holes. These properties offer highly sensitive and selective non-enzymatic photo-electrochemical monitoring of H2O2 released from HeLa cells after stimulation with N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine. The sensor has a wide linear range (20–800 nM), low detection limit (2.4 nM), and reliable reproducibility, this implying its suitability for biological and biomedical applications.

Schematic of the fabrication of ZnO nanoparticles by using a plant extract as a reducing agent. Wrap** of ZnO with C-dots enhances the photoelectrocatalytic efficacy. Sensitive and selective photoelectrochemical monitoring of H2O2 released from cancer cells is demonstrated.

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Author notes

  1. Faria Khan contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Atta ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Science Technology (NUST), Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Faria Khan & Hussnain Ahmed Janjua

  2. Department of Plant Biotechnology, Atta ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Science Technology (NUST), Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Faria Khan

  3. Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kasprzaka 44/52, 01-224, Warsaw, Poland

    Faria Khan & Rafal Szmigielski

  4. Interdisciplinary Research Center in Biomedical Materials (IRCBM), COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan

    Naeem Akhtar & Hafiz B. Ahmad

  5. National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, 305-0047, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, Japan

    Naeem Akhtar

  6. School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tian** University, Tian** Shi, 300072, China

    Nasir Jalal

  7. Department of Chemistry, SBA School of Science & Engineering (SBASSE), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), DHA, Lahore, 54792, Pakistan

    Irshad Hussain & Muhammad Qasim Hayat

  8. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

    Waleed A. El-Said

  9. Solid State Functional Materials Research Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Ningbo, 315201, Zhejiang, China

    Minghui Yang

Authors
  1. Faria Khan
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  2. Naeem Akhtar
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Correspondence to Naeem Akhtar, Minghui Yang or Hussnain Ahmed Janjua.

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Khan, F., Akhtar, N., Jalal, N. et al. Carbon-dot wrapped ZnO nanoparticle-based photoelectrochemical sensor for selective monitoring of H2O2 released from cancer cells. Microchim Acta 186, 127 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-019-3227-x

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