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Sensitive electrochemical measurement of nitric oxide released from living cells based on dealloyed PtBi alloy nanoparticles

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Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO), as a vital signaling molecule related to different physiological and pathological processes in living systems, is closely associated with cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, the detection of NO in real-time remains a difficulty. Here, PtBi alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized, dealloyed, and then fabricated to NP-based electrodes for the electrochemical detection of NO. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and nitrogen physical adsorption/desorption show that dealloyed PtBi alloy nanoparticles (dPtBi NPs) have a porous nanostructure. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry results exhibit that the dPtBi NP electrode possesses unique electrocatalytic features such as low charge transfer resistance and large electrochemically active surface area, which lead to its excellent NO electrochemical sensing performance. Owing to the higher density of catalytical active sites formed PtBi bimetallic interface, the dPtBi NP electrode displays superior electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of NO with a peak potential at 0.74 V vs. SCE. The dPtBi NP electrode shows a wide dynamic range (0.09–31.5 μM) and a low detection limit of 1 nM (3σ/k) as well as high sensitivity (130 and 36.5 μA μM−1 cm−2). Moreover, the developed dPtBi NP-based electrochemical sensor also exhibited good reproducibility (RSD 5.7%) and repeatability (RSD 3.4%). The electrochemical sensor was successfully used for the sensitive detection of NO produced by live cells. This study indicates a highly effective approach for regulating the composition and nanostructures of metal alloy nanomaterials, which might provide new technical insights for developing high-performance NO-sensitive systems, and have important implications in enabling real-time detection of NO produced by live cells.

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Funding

This study was supported by the following grants: the Beijing Outstanding Young Scientist Program (BJJWZYJH01201910005017) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22127805).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Excellence for Environmental Safety and Biological Effect, Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Chemistry, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, People’s Republic of China

    Xiucheng Sun, Yong Yan, Yacheng Wang, Yaoyao Zhao, Xiangnan Dou, Dongtang Zhang, Liping Lu, Guangsheng Guo & Xiayan Wang

  2. Minzu University of China, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Guangsheng Guo

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  1. Xiucheng Sun
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  2. Yong Yan
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  3. Yacheng Wang
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  6. Dongtang Zhang
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Contributions

Xiucheng Sun: data curation; validation; investigation; visualization; writing—original draft. Yong Yan: methodology; formal analysis; writing—review and editing. Yacheng Wang: methodology. Yaoyao Zhao: writing—review and editing. Xiangnan Dou: writing—review and editing. Dongtang Zhang: methodology, formal analysis, resources. Liping Lu: conceptualization; methodology; formal analysis; visualization; writing—review and editing. Guangsheng Guo: resources. Xiayan Wang: conceptualization; methodology; funding acquisition; project administration; writing—review and editing; supervision.

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Correspondence to Dongtang Zhang or Guangsheng Guo.

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Sun, X., Yan, Y., Wang, Y. et al. Sensitive electrochemical measurement of nitric oxide released from living cells based on dealloyed PtBi alloy nanoparticles. Microchim Acta 190, 277 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-023-05837-5

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