Challenges in Biomaterials Science for Electrochemical Biosensing and Bioenergy

Abstract

Interest in developing and applying emerging biomaterials to sensing and energy devices’ frameworks has dramatically climbed in recent years. The world has been recently threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, generating a sprint for reliable manufacturing and analysis, low-cost detection methods. The challenge is implied in the elaboration of innovative materials and the design of biointerfaces to thrive in the sensing objectives. Concomitantly, the global search for economic growth and recovery is rebounding on energy demand, surpassing growth in energy generation from renewable sources. Therefore, efforts are being focused on the conception and application of biomaterials for the eco-friendly generation, storage, and conversion of energy. Here, we offer some highlights of the rational design of biomaterials and challenges to be overcome in the near future for the commercial consolidation of biodevices in these two segments.

Label-Free Electrochemical Biosensor Platforms for Cancer Diagnosis: Recent Achievements and Challenges

“…Despite a lot of effort and good progress in the field of biosensors, it is seen as an inconsistency that only a few of them find a place in the commercial market. The first example of commercial biosensor is the enzymatic glucose biosensor, which is expected to have a market of USD 38 billion by 2027 [ 49 ]. This biosensor currently holds approximately 75% of the global biosensor market.…”

“…However, since the biomolecule redox reaction processes are still not fully known, in situ inspection techniques are used for evaluation [ 53 ]. Some of the obstacles in the transformation of biosensor studies from laboratory to commercial products are performance and nonspecific surface interaction problems in various body fluids, which have complex matrices [ 49 ].…”

Low-dimensionality carbon-based biosensors: the new era of emerging technologies in bioanalytical chemistry

“…Zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterials have a wide range of applications in bioanalysis literature, especially driven by the thrilling advances in liquid biopsy and point of care [ 45 , 46 ], owing to their photoluminescence and electroluminescence properties, which makes these materials unique compared to 2D or 3D carbon nanomaterials, or via electrochemical approaches. Additionally, readers can find examples and future expectations concerning the use of 0D carbon nanomaterials in recent reviews [ 16 , 47 ]. Here, some frontier applications associated with biosensing and bioimaging are highlighted as they represent some of the major advances in using CQDs and GQDs for bioanalysis.…”

Highlighting Recent Research from Latin America in Chemistry of Materials

“…Porous materials continue to be an area of priority, with metal organic framework (MOF) materials being both studied and highlighted in a recent Up & Coming Perspective within the journal, the latter contribuion from Ibarra and co-workers. − Both the porosity of these materials and the chemical nature of the metal ions and organic linker molecules bring functionality. For example, Bof Bufon, Paes Leme, and co-workers built an electrochemical biosensor for detection of protein–protein interactions based on the zeolitic imidazole framework ZIF-8 serving as the transducer, and while not focused on MOFs, Crespilho and co-workers provided an excellent Perspective on electrochemical biosensing recently . MOFs were also designed for ammonia capture and water remediation of heavy metal ions, while synergy between the porosity and soft properties of MOFs was also shown to provide selectivity for adsorbates of different polarities .…”

“…For example, Bof Bufon, Paes Leme, and co-workers built an electrochemical biosensor for detection of protein−protein interactions based on the zeolitic imidazole framework ZIF-8 serving as the transducer, 3 and while not focused on MOFs, Crespilho and co-workers provided an excellent Perspective on electrochemical biosensing recently. 4 MOFs were also designed for ammonia capture 5 and water remediation of heavy metal ions, 6 while synergy between the porosity and soft properties of MOFs was also shown to provide selectivity for adsorbates of different polarities. 7 Beyond MOFs, porous carbon materials have a rich history for their adsorbent properties, and their design was greatly accelerated by the application of machine learning and natural language processing to over 10 000 scientific articles, gaining understanding of how synthesis parameters influence their properties.…”