ElectroSens Platform with a Polyelectrolyte-Based Carbon Fiber Sensor for Point-of-Care Analysis of Zn in Blood and Urine

Nikolaev, Konstantin G.; Kalmykov, Evgeniy V.; Shavronskaya, Daria O.; Nikitina, Anna A.; Stekolshchikova, Anna A.; Kosareva, Ekaterina A.; Zenkin, Artemiy A.; Pantiukhin, Igor S.; Orlova, Olga Yu.; Skalny, Anatoly V.; Skorb, Ekaterina V.

[Image: see text] In this paper, we describe an electrochemical sensing platform—ElectroSens—for the detection of Zn based on self-assembled polyelectrolyte multilayers on the carbon fiber (CF) electrode surface. The CF-extended surface facilitates the usage of a small volume electrochemical cell (1 mL) without stirring. This approach allows making a low-cost three-electrode platform. Working electrode modification with layer-by-layer assembly of polyethyleneimine (PEI), poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS), and mercury nitrate layers eliminates solution toxicity and provides stable stripping voltammetry measurements. The stable, robust, sustainable, and even reusable Ag/AgCl reference electrode consists of adsorbed 32 PEI-KCl/PSS-KCl bilayers on the CF/silver paste separated from the outer solution by a polyvinyl chloride membrane. The polyelectrolyte-based sensor interface prevents adsorption of protein molecules from biological liquids on the CF surface that leads to a sensitivity increase of up to 2.2 μA/M for Zn(2+) detection and provides a low limit of detection of 4.6 × 10(–8) M. The linear range for Zn detection is 1 × 10(–7) to 1 × 10(–5) M. A portable potentiostat connected via wireless to a smartphone with an android-based software is also provided. The ElectroSens demonstrates reproducibility and repeatability of data for the detection of Zn in blood and urine without the digestion step.