A computational approach was developed to find a suitable functional monomer to design a new molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), based on which methacyrlic acid (MAA) was selected as a functional monomer to synthesize the molecular imprinted and non‐imprinted polymers. All calculations were carried out using Gaussian 03 software based on the application of Hartree−Fock (HF) method with 6‐31G (d) basis set. The performance of the MIPs prepared with different ratios of MAA was then evaluated using equilibrium rebinding assays. The MIP with the highest binding capacity was chosen as recognition material for the fabrication of new PVC sensors and their responses were compared with each other and with previously reported modifiers in literature. The addition of the ionic surfactant (TFPB) was found to have a synergistic effect on the response mechanism of the electrodes. The results of the MIP modified sensors show that they provide an improved electrode slope, wider pH range and a highly extended life time reaching 7 months compared to 2–4 weeks in case of traditional ion‐exchangers reported in literature, besides, being successfully applied for measurements in biological samples.

We report on highly-sensitive ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) for potentiometric determining of galantamine hydrobromide (GB) in physiological fluids. Galantamine hydrobromide (GB) was selected for this study due to its previous medical importance for treating Alzheimer's disease. Three different types of ISEs were investigated: PVC membrane electrode (PVCE), carbon-paste electrode (CPE), and coated-wire electrode (CWE). In the construction of these electrodes, galantaminium-reineckate (GR) ion-pair was used as a sensing species for GB in solutions. The modified carbon-paste electrode (MCPE) was prepared using graphene oxide (MCPE-GO) and sodium tetrakis (trifluoromethyl) phenyl borate (MCPE-STFPB) as ion-exchanger. The potentiometric modified CPEs (MCPE-GO and MCPE-STFPB) show an improved performance in term of Nernstian slope, selectivity, response time, and response stability compared to the unmodified CPE. The prepared electrodes PVCE, CWE, CPE, MCPE-GO and MCPE-STFPB show Nernstian slopes of 59.9, 59.5, 58.1, 58.3 and 57.0 mV/conc. decade, and detection limits of 5.0 × 10, 6.3 × 10, 8.0 × 10, 6.0 × 10 and 8.0 × 10 mol L, respectively. The prepared ISEs also show high selectivity against cations (i.e. Na, K, NH, Ca, Al, Fe), amino acids (i.e. glycine, L-alanine alanine), and sugars (i.e. fructose, glucose, maltose, lactose). The prepared ISEs are applicable for determining GB in spiked serums, urines, and pharmaceutical preparations, using a standard addition and a direct potentiometric method. The fast response time (<10 s), long lifetime (1-5 weeks), reversibility and stability of the measured signals facilitate the application of these sensors for routine analysis of the real samples.

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New Mn(III)‐L and Mn(IV)‐L complexes were prepared from the highly lipophilic salophen ligand (L): phenol 2,2′‐[(4,5‐dimethyl‐1,2‐phenylene)bis[(E)‐nitrilomethylidyne]]bis[4,6‐bis(1,1‐dimethylethyl). The prepared complexes were fully characterized and used for the construction of thiocyanate membrane electrodes. Optimized membrane electrodes contained 33.0 mg PVC, 66.0 mg o‐nitrophenyloctylether, 50 or 5 (mole %) tetrakis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl borate and 1 mg Mn(III)‐L (sensor 2) or Mn‐(IV)‐L (sensor 12), respectively. Such electrodes exhibited linear responses toward thiocynate in a concentration range of 10−1–10−5 M and detection limits of 8.3×10−6, 8.9×10−6 M for sensor 2 and 12, respectively. Optimized membrane electrodes exhbited high selectivty toward thiocayante compared to more lipophilic anions. The observed thiocyanate selectivity of the optimized membranes was confirmed by formation constant calculations for Mn(III)‐L and Mn(IV)‐L with SCN−, β=1014.1 and 1012.5, which was measured potentiometrically using the sandwich membrane method. Furthermore, computational study using DFT calculations was performed to at DFT/B3LYP level of theory to confirm the observed selectivity data. The response times were 3 and 0.5 min for low and high concentrations. The lifetimes of the optimized electrodes were ∼4–6 weeks. The analytical utility of the optimized membrane electrodes was demonstrated by the analysis of thiocyanate level in different saliva samples.

Nanomaterials are materials with one or more nanoscale dimensions (internal or external) (i.e., 1 to 100 nm). The nanomaterial shape, size, porosity, surface chemistry, and composition are controlled at the nanoscale, and this offers interesting properties compared with bulk materials. This review describes how nanomaterials are classified, their fabrication, functionalization techniques, and growth-controlled mechanisms. First, the history of nanomaterials is summarized and then the different classification methods, based on their dimensionality (0–3D), composition (carbon, inorganic, organic, and hybrids), origin (natural, incidental, engineered, bioinspired), crystal phase (single phase, multiphase), and dispersion state (dispersed or aggregated), are presented. Then, the synthesis methods are discussed and classified in function of the starting material (bottom-up and top-down), reaction phase (gas, plasma, liquid, and solid), and nature of the dispersing forces (mechanical, physical, chemical, physicochemical, and biological). Finally, the challenges in synthesizing nanomaterials for research and commercial use are highlighted.