Selective and sensitive glucose sensors with fast response for screening diabetic blood level are demanded. In this paper, the one-pot nanoarchitecture of dendritic NiO@carbon–nitrogen (C–N) dots (designated as NCD) sphere-wrapping Ni foam electrodes are reported as an effective and sensitive glucose sensor in blood samples. In this construction design, the NCD sphere electrode with excessive surface defects, large fractions of catalytic active sites, high surface area, and mobility of electron transfer through the actively surface NCD sphere can massively enhance the electrocatalytic activity for nonenzymatic glucose detection in diabetic blood. This portable sensor enables highly sensitive recognition of glucose detection (≈0.01 × 10⁻⁶m) over a wider linear range (≈0.005–12 × 10⁻³m) with rapid response time of a few seconds. The key result is that the engineered NCD sphere electrodes function as simple, easy-to-use electrochemical sensing assays of glucose levels in diabetic blood patients with a wide range of precision or linearity, recyclability, and excellent selectivity, even in the presence of potentially interfering organic (ascorbic acid, uric acid, dopamine, lactose, maltose, and sucrose) and inorganic (NaCl, Na₂SO₄, KCl, and K₂SO₄) species. The results demonstrate the potential for the electrochemical sensors to be used in preventing serious health problems associated with diabetes mismanagement.

In this work, we have developed a hexagonal-prism-shaped optical sensor/captor (OSC) based on the immobilization of an organic probe into hexagonal, micrometric monoliths of mesoporous aluminosilica scaffolds for the colorimetric monitoring, selective sequestering, and effective recovery of Pd^II ions from urban mines as a promising technology for industrial applications. In such a solid OSC, H-type aggregation and face-to-face (π–π* stacking) interactions between the heteroatoms-coordinated organic probe and the active acid sites of the scaffolds lead to the formation of 1D molecular probe assemblies parallel to the interior pore walls. The design patterns of hexagonal-prism-shaped and open cylindrical pores (ca. 4 nm) exhibited suitable accommodation to protect the organic probe from extra H-aggregates, as evidenced by the high affinity of the Pd^II–probe binding events. The OSC shows evidence of controlled Pd^II ion assessment in terms of the optical recognition of Pd^II ions down to sub-nanomolar concentrations (3.3 × 10^–9 mol/L). Our study shows that the developed OSC can be used as an effective tool for urban mining development, particularly for secondary resources in industrial countries.

Water contamination with lindane, which is a persistent, toxic, and priority insecticide, is a major problem worldwide. This study presents the fabrication of mesoporous alumina nanoparticles (MA–NPs) with a large surface-area-to-volume ratio, active surface sites, and open channel pores to trap/adsorb insecticide molecules, such as lindane. Key factors, such as temperature, pH (i.e., 4.5), adsorbate–adsorbent concentration, and contact time, influence the thermodynamics and kinetics of heterogeneous lindane–MA–NP adsorption. Results show that the maximum adsorption capacity (q_m) of lindane is 25.54 mg g⁻¹ at 20 °C. MA–NPs also exhibits a high uptake efficiency (>80 %) of lindane after 20 cycles, which results in effective regeneration and reusability characteristics. MA–NPs were also applied in real environmental samples from tap and lake water sources contaminated with lindane. The results indicate that the MA–NPs show evidence of their environmental impact, their potential influence on the removal and recovery of lindane, and their possible contribution to waste management.

Hierarchical mesoporous and macroporous nanohexagon NiO sheets were fabricated via a hydrothermal-guided synthesis route. This approach provided uniformly nanohexagonal ceramic sheets (with sizes of approximately 250–300 nm) having NiO active sites throughout the interior/exterior. The ceramic sheets with well-dispersed pore windows serve as significant platform-like adsorbents for the adsorption and recovery of a wide range of insecticides. A nanohexagon sheet adsorbent can accommodate insecticide molecules into the pore cavities or between the layer matrices which are directly accessible. The heterogeneous processing efficiency of insecticide adsorption was examined with a single ceramic sheet of the adsorbent at neutral pH and described in terms of the amount of uptake, removal of the multiple insecticide contaminants, and reusability. Experimental findings indicated that the platform-like adsorbent effectively removed >95 % of the insecticide toxins in a one-step batch adsorption process. Significantly, the complete recovery of multiple insecticide toxins from water sources could be achieved while maintaining the hierarchical hexagon sheet layered structures, thereby indicating its applicability for more than 20 reuse cycles. These nanohexagon sheet adsorbents can potentially satisfy the increasing need for the removal of hydrophilic and hydrophobic insecticides such as carbamates and organochlorines, respectively, from agriculture wastewater.

Exposure to toxins can cause deleterious effects even at very low concentrations. We have developed an optical sensor, filter, and extractor (i.e., containerlike) in a nanoscale membrane (NSM) for the ultratrace sensing, separation, and recovery of Co²⁺ ions from water. The design of the NSM is successfully controlled by dense decoration of a hydrophobic oil-hydrophilic receptor onto mesoscale tubular-structured silica nanochannels made of a hybrid anodic alumina membrane. The particular structure of the nanocontainer is ideal to control the multiple functions of the membrane, such as the optical detection/recognition, rejection/permeation, and recovery of Co²⁺ species in a single step. A typical sensor, filter, and extractor assessment experiment was performed by using a benchtop contact time technique and a flow-through cell detector to allow for precise control of the optical detection and exclusive rejection of target ions and the permeation of nontarget metal ions in water. This nanocontainer membrane has great potential to meet the increasing needs of purification and separation of Co²⁺ ions.

Nanomembrane canister-like architectures were fabricated by using hexagonal mesocylinder-shaped aluminosilica nanotubes (MNTs)–porous anodic alumina (PAA) hybrid nanochannels. The engineering pattern of the MNTs inside a 60 μm-long membrane channel enabled the creation of unique canister-like channel necks and cavities. The open-tubular canister architecture design provides controllable, reproducible, and one-step processing patterns of visual detection and rejection/permeation of oxyanion toxins such as selenite (SeO₃²⁻) in aquatic environments (i.e., in ground and river water sources) in the Ibaraki Prefecture of Japan. The decoration of organic ligand moieties such as omega chrome black blue (OCG) into inorganic Al₂O₃@tubular SiO₂/Al₂O₃ canister membrane channel cavities led to the fabrication of an optical nanomembrane sensor (ONS). The OCG ligand was not leached from the canister as observed in washing, sensing, and recovery assays of selenite anions in solution, which enabled its multiple reuse. The ONS makes a variety of alternate processing analyses of selective quantification, visual detection, rejection/permeation, and recovery of toxic selenite quick and simple without using complex instrumentation. Under optimal conditions, the ONS canister exhibited a high selectivity toward selenite anions relative to other ions and a low-level detection limit of 0.0093 μm. Real analytical data showed that approximately 96 % of SeO₃²⁻ anions can be recovered from aquatic and wastewater samples. The ONS canister holds potential for field recovery applications of toxic selenite anions from water.

Because toxic heavy metals tend to bioaccumulate, they represent a substantial human health hazard. Various methods are used to identify and quantify toxic metals in biological tissues and environment fluids, but a simple, rapid, and inexpensive system has yet to be developed. To reduce the necessity for instrument-dependent analysis, we developed a single, pH-dependent, nanosphere (NS) sensor for naked-eye detection and removal of toxic metal ions from drinking water and physiological systems (i.e., blood). The design platform for the optical NS sensor is composed of double mesoporous core–shell silica NSs fabricated by one-pot, template-guided synthesis with anionic surfactant. The dense shell-by-shell NS construction generated a unique hierarchical NS sensor with a hollow cage interior to enable accessibility for continuous monitoring of several different toxic metal ions and efficient multi-ion sensing and removal capabilities with respect to reversibility, longevity, selectivity, and signal stability. Here, we examined the application of the NS sensor for the removal of toxic metals (e.g., lead ions from a physiological system, such as human blood). The findings show that this sensor design has potential for the rapid screening of blood lead levels so that the effects of lead toxicity can be avoided.

The nanoassembly of nearly monodisperse nanoparticles (NPs) as uniform building blocks to engineer zirconia (ZrO₂) nanostructures with mesoscopic ordering by using a template as a fastening agent was explored. The mesophase of the materials was investigated through powder X-ray diffraction and TEM analysis (TEM) and N₂ sorption studies. The TEM results revealed that the mesopores were created by the arrangement of ZrO₂ NPs with sizes of 7.0–9.0 nm and with broad interparticle pores. Moreover, the N₂ sorption study confirmed the results. The surface chemical analysis was performed to estimate the distribution of Zr, O, and S in the sulfated ZrO₂ matrices. The materials in this study displayed excellent catalytic activity in the biodiesel reaction for effective conversion of long-chain fatty acids to their methyl esters, and the maximum biodiesel yield was approximately 100 %. The excellent heterogeneous catalytic activity could be attributed to the open framework, large surface area, presence of ample acidic sites located at the surface of the matrix, and high structural stability of the materials. The catalysts revealed a negligible loss of activity in the catalytic recycles.

Immobilization of biological macromolecules, such as protein, onto solid supports is an important method for diagnostic assays andgenetechnology. This present study reports the size-selective adsorption/removal of virtual proteins that have different shapes, sizes, functions, and properties, such as insulin, cytochrome c, lysozyme, myoglobin, β-lactoglobin, α-amylase, hemoglobin, and myosin in aqueous water using mesobiocaptor monoliths. To prevent large proteins from adsorbing and remaining attached to adsorbent surfaces, large, open, cylindrical-pored, three-dimensional cubic aluminosilica mesostructures with large aluminum contents and micrometer-sized monolith particles were fabricated. The unique physical properties and the surface functionality of the mesobiocaptors enhance protein adsorption characteristics in terms of loading capacity and quantity of the sample, ensuring a higher concentration of adsorbed proteins, interior pore diffusivity, and encapsulation in a short period. Thermodynamic studies indicate that protein adsorption into the mesobiocaptor pores is favorable and spontaneous. Theoretical models were used to investigate the major driving forces for the most optimal performance of the protein adsorption. The geometrical findings point to key factors, such as surface energy, intermolecular forces, charge distribution, hydrophobicity, and electrostatic interaction, which might control the adsorption into the interior large, open cylindrical mesobiocaptor cavities (sized 3–16 nm) without aggregation of these proteins on the exterior surfaces of monoliths. Indeed, the availability of adsorption of single proteins from mixtures based on size- and shape-selective separation opens new avenues of research in encapsulation of proteins and bioanalysis.