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The capability of pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) for the direct analysis of endotoxins is demonstrated in this research article using the lipopolysaccharides of Pseudomonas aeruginosa 10. Analytical methods based on evolved gas analysis-MS, single-shot (SS) Py-GC-MS, and multishot heart cut Py-GC-MS were investigated. Among the various methods developed, the SS Py-GC-MS method shows superior potential for identifying bacterial endotoxins effectively through their biomarkers. The results obtained were validated with conventional mass spectral analysis after hydrolysis. The method was also evaluated for its robustness based on quality control criteria indicated by the U.S. EPA Method 8270D. When applied onto endotoxins of different Gram-negative bacteria, this method produced vastly distinct pyrograms. The results show that rapid and sensitive direct detection of endotoxins is possible with the Py-GC-MS method developed.

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Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is a versatile analytical method but its data is usually complicated by the presence of severely co-eluting and trace-level components. In this work, we introduce an optimized band-target entropy minimization approach for the analysis of complex mass spectral data. This new approach enables an automated mass spectral analysis which does not require any user-dependent inputs. Moreover, the approach provides improved sensitivity and accuracy for mass spectral reconstruction of severely co-eluting and trace-level components. The accuracy of our approach is compared to the automatic mass spectral deconvolution and identification system (AMDIS) with two controlled mixtures and a sample of Eucalyptus essential oil. Our approach was able to putatively identify 130 compounds in Eucalyptus essential oil, which was 46% in excess of that identified by AMDIS. This new approach is expected to benefit GC-MS analysis of complex mixtures such as biological samples and essential oils, in which the data are often complicated by co-eluting and trace-level components. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

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Graphene, produced via chemical methods, has been widely applied for electrochemical sensing due to its structural and electrochemical properties as well as its ease of production in large quantity. While nitrogen-doped graphenes are widely studied materials, the literature showing an effect of graphene oxide preparation methods on nitrogen quantity and chemical states as well as on defects and, in turn, on electrochemical sensing is non-existent. In this study, the properties of nitrogen-doped graphene materials, prepared via hydrothermal synthesis using graphite oxide produced by various classical methods using permanganate or chlorate oxidants Staudenmaier, Hummers, Hofmann and Brodie oxidation methods, were studied; the resulting nitrogen-doped graphene oxides were labeled as ST-GO, HU-GO, HO-GO and BR-GO, respectively. The electrochemical oxidation of biomolecules, such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, dopamine, nicotinamide adenine nucleotide and DNA free bases, was carried out using cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry techniques. The nitrogen content in doped graphene oxides increased in the order ST-GO < BR-GO < HO-GO < HU-GO. In the same way, the pyridinic form of nitrogen increased and the electrocatalytic effect of N-doped graphene followed this trend, as shown in the cyclic voltammograms. This is a very important finding that provides insight into the electrocatalytic effect of N-doped graphene. The nitrogen-doped graphene materials exhibited improved sensitivity over bare glassy carbon for ascorbic acid, uric acid and dopamine detection. These studies will enhance our understanding of the effects of graphite oxide precursors on the electrochemical sensing properties of nitrogen-doped graphene materials.

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Graphene platforms have been drawing considerable attention in electrochemistry for the detection of various electroactive probes. Depending on the chemical composition and properties of the probe, graphene materials with diverse structural features may be required to achieve an optimal electrochemical performance. This work comprises a comparative study on three chemically modified graphenes, obtained from the same starting material and with different oxygen functionalities and structural defects (graphene oxide (GO), chemically reduced graphene oxide (CRGO), and thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO)) towards the electrochemical detection of quinine, an important flavoring agent present in tonic-based beverages. In general, the reduced graphenes, namely CRGO and TRGO, showed enhanced performance in terms of calibration sensitivity and selectivity, due to the improved heterogeneous electron-transfer rates on their surfaces. In particular, CRGO provided the best overall electrochemical performance, which can be attributed to its higher density of structural defects and reduced amount of oxygen functionalities. For this reason, CRGO was employed for the electrochemical detection of quinine in commercial tonic drink samples, showing high sensitivity and selectivity, and therefore representing a valid low-cost alternative to more complicated and time consuming traditional analytical methods.

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3D printing, an upcoming technology, has vast potential to transform conventional fabrication processes due to the numerous improvements it can offer to the current methods. To date, the employment of 3D printing technology has been examined for applications in the fields of engineering, manufacturing and biological sciences. In this study, we examined the potential of adopting 3D printing technology for a novel application, electrochemical DNA biosensing. Metal 3D printing was utilized to construct helical-shaped stainless steel electrodes which functioned as a transducing platform for the detection of DNA hybridization. The ability of electroactive methylene blue to intercalate into the double helix structure of double-stranded DNA was then exploited to monitor the DNA hybridization process, with its inherent reduction peak serving as an analytical signal. The designed biosensing approach was found to demonstrate superior selectivity against a non-complementary DNA target, with a detection range of 1-1000 nM.

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The metallic 1 T phase of MoS2 has been widely identified to be responsible for the improved performances of MoS2 in applications including hydrogen evolution reactions and electrochemical supercapacitors. To this aim, various synthetic methods have been reported to obtain 1 T phase-rich MoS2 . Here, the aim is to evaluate the efficiencies of the bottom-up (hydrothermal reaction) and top-down (chemical exfoliation) approaches in producing 1 T phase MoS2 . It is established in this study that the 1 T phase MoS2 produced through the bottom-up approach contains a high proportion of 1 T phase and demonstrates excellent electrochemical and electrical properties. Its performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction and electrochemical supercapacitors also surpassed that of 1 T phase MoS2 produced through a top-down approach.

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The chemical functionalization of hydrogenated graphene can modify its physical properties and lead to better processability. Herein, we describe the chemical functionalization of hydrogenated graphene through a dehydrogenative cross-coupling reaction between an allylic C-H bond and the α-C-H bond of tetrahydrothiophen-3-one using Cu(OTf)2 as the catalyst and DDQ as the oxidant. The chemical functionalization was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and visualized by scanning electron microscopy. The functionalized hydrogenated graphene material demonstrated improved dispersion stability in water, bringing new quality to the elusive hydrogenated graphene (graphane) materials. Hydrogenated graphene provides broad possibilities for chemical modifications owing to its reactivity.

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Graphene materials have found applications in a wide range of devices over the past decade. In order to meet the demand for graphene materials, various synthesis methods are constantly being improved or invented. Ball-milling of graphite to obtain graphene materials is one of the many versatile methods to easily obtain bulk quantities. In this work, we show that the graphene materials produced by ball-milling are spontaneously contaminated with metallic impurities originating from the grinding bowls and balls. Ball-milled sulfur-doped graphene materials obtained from two types of ball-milling apparatus, specifically made up of stainless steel and zirconium dioxide, were investigated. Zirconium dioxide-based ball-milled sulfur-doped graphene materials contain a drastically lower amount of metallic impurities than stainless steel-based ball-milled sulfur-doped graphene materials. The presence of metallic impurities is demonstrated by their catalytic effects toward the electrochemical catalysis of hydrazine and cumene hydroperoxide. The general impression toward ball-milling of graphite as a versatile method for the bulk production of 'metal-free' graphene materials without the need for post-processing and the selection of ball-milling tools should be cautioned. These findings would have wide-reaching implications for graphene research.

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The electrochemistry of graphene and its derivatives has been extensively researched in recent years. In the aspect of graphene preparation methods, the efficiencies of the top-down electrochemical exfoliation of graphite, the electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide and the electrochemical delamination of CVD grown graphene, are currently on par with conventional procedures. Electrochemical analysis of graphene oxide has revealed an unexpected inherent redox activity with, in some cases, an astonishing chemical reversibility. Furthermore, graphene modified with p-block elements has shown impressive electrocatalytic performances in processes which have been historically dominated by metal-based catalysts. Further progress has also been achieved in the practical usage of graphene in sensing and biosensing applications. This review is an update of our previous article in Chem. Soc. Rev. 2010, 39, 4146-4157, with special focus on the developments over the past two years.

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Tailoring and enhancing electrocatalytic activity is of the utmost importance from the viewpoints of sustainable energy and sensing. MoS2 and graphene show great promise for the electrocatalysis of many reactions. Given that both graphene and MoS2 are highly anisotropic in nature, with edge planes that are several orders of magnitude more catalytically active than basal planes, a new hybrid material with maximized edge-plane density to provide efficient electron transfer, high catalytic activity, and conductive cores was engineered. The hybrid material consists of radial MoS2 nanosheets with a high density of edge planes and unsaturated active sulfur atoms as well as interspersed with conductive graphene nanoplatelets. This hybrid material exhibits excellent activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction and the detection of DNA nucleobases. Such a nanoengineered, nanostructured hybrid material may play a major role in future electrocatalytic devices.

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The majority of supercapacitor research studies on graphene materials today have been based upon developing electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) using reduced graphenes. In contrast, graphene oxide (GO) is often neglected as a supercapacitor candidate due to its low electrical conductivity and surface area. Nonetheless, we present herein a fast (1 h) labelling of GO with o-phenylenediamine (PD) to produce PD-GO, exploiting inherent oxygen groups in creating new functionalities that exhibit capacitive enhancement from pseudo-capacitance. A high specific capacitance of 191 F g(-1) was obtained (at 0.2 A g(-1)), comparable to recent binder-free graphene supercapacitors. The large surface-normalized capacitance of up to 628 µF cm(-2) is also many times greater than the intrinsic capacitance of single-layer graphene (21 µF cm(-2)) as a result of additional pseudo-capacitance. A high capacity retention of ∼85% with each 10-fold increase in current density further indicates excellent rate performance. Hence, this approach in enhancing GO pseudo-capacitance may be similarly feasible as graphene EDLCs. Additionally, PD-GO was also found to exhibit a bright green fluorescence with a 540 nm maximum. The strongest fluorescence intensities arose from the smallest PD-GO fragments, and we attribute the origin to localised sp(2) domains and newly formed phenazine edge groups. The dual enhancement of dissimilar properties such as capacitance and fluorescence emphasizes the continued significance of covalent functionalisation towards tuning of properties in graphene-type materials.

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We have performed an experimental investigation on the effects of hydrazine treatment on graphene oxide via a reaction-model approach. Hydrazine was reacted with small conjugated aromatic compounds containing various oxygen functional groups to mimic the structure of graphene oxide. The hydroxyl and carboxylic groups were not readily removed while carbonyl groups reacted with hydrazine to form the corresponding hydrazone complexes. In the presence of adjacent hydroxyl groups, carboxyl groups underwent thermal decarboxylation.

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Though many studies examined the properties of the class of IIIA-VIA and IVA-VIA layered materials, few have delved into the electrochemical aspect of such materials. In light of the burgeoning interest in layered structures towards various electrocatalytic applications, we endeavored to study the inherent electrochemical properties of representative layered materials of this class, GaSe and GeS, and their impact towards electrochemical sensing of redox probes as well as catalysis of oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution and hydrogen evolution reactions. In contrast to the typical sandwich structure of MoS2 layered materials, GeS is isoelectronic to black phosphorus with the same structure; GaSe is a layered material consisting of GaSe sheets bonded in the sequence Se-Ga-Ga-Se. We characterized GaSe and GeS by employing scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy complemented by electronic structure calculations. It was found that the encompassing surface oxide layers on GaSe and GeS greatly influenced their electrochemical properties, especially their electrocatalytic capabilities towards hydrogen evolution reaction. These findings provide fresh insight into the electrochemical properties of these IIIA-VIA and IVA-VIA layered structures which enables development for future applications.

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Chemical modification and functionalization of inherent functional groups within graphite oxide (GO) are essential aspects of graphene-based nano-materials used in wide-ranging applications. Despite extensive research, there remains some discrepancy in its structure, with current knowledge limited primarily to spectroscopic data from XPS, NMR and vibrational spectroscopies. We report herein an innovative electrochemistry-based approach. Four electroactive labels are chosen to selectively functionalize groups in GO, and quantification of each group is achieved by voltammetric analysis. This allows for the first time quantification of absolute amounts of each group, with a further advantage of distinguishing various carbonyl species: namely ortho- and para-quinones from aliphatic ketones. Intrinsic variations in the compositions of permanganate versus chlorate-oxidized GOs were thus observed. Principal differences include permanganate-GO exhibiting substantial quinonyl content, in comparison to chlorate-GO with the vast majority of its carbonyls as isolated ketones. The results confirm that carboxylic groups are rare in actuality, and are in fact entirely absent from chlorate-GO. These observations refine and advance our understanding of GO structure by addressing certain disparities in past models resulting from employment of different oxidation routes, with the vital implication that GO production methods cannot be used interchangeably in the manufacture of graphene-based devices.

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As the research in nanotechnology progresses, there will eventually be an influx in the number of commercial products containing different types of nanomaterials. This phenomenon might damage our health and environment if the nanomaterials used are found to be toxic and they are released into the waters when the products degrade. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of fluorinated nanocarbons (CXFs), a group of nanomaterials which can find applications in solid lubricants and lithium primary batteries. Our cell viability findings indicated that the toxicological effects induced by the CXF are dependent on the dose, size, shape, and fluorine content of the CXF. In addition, we verified that CXFs have insignificant interactions with the cell viability assays-methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and water-soluble tetrazolium salt (WST-8), thus suggesting that the cytotoxicity data obtained are unlikely to be affected by CXF-induced artifacts and the results will be reliable.

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The rise in global demand for crucial chemical compounds has driven immense research in the fundamental science of catalysis. Graphene and its derivatives (chemically modified graphene, CMGs) have recently emerged as a new class of heterogeneous catalyst that promises economically viable and greener routes to these compounds. Although CMGs possess unique catalytic properties, the actual active sites are often points of discussion. Current minimal understanding on the possible effects of metallic impurities on the electrocatalytic performances of these CMGs calls forth the need to raise awareness on possible metallic impurities misrepresenting the actual chemical catalytic performances of the CMGs. This Minireview highlights the latest advances in the application of CMGs as catalysts, with an emphasis on the possible effects of metallic impurities on CMG catalysis.

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Halogen functionalization of graphene is an important branch of graphene research as it provides opportunities to tailor the band gap and catalytic properties of graphene. Monovalent C-X bond obviates pitfalls of functionalization with atoms of groups 13, 15, and 16, which can introduce various poorly defined groups. Here, the preparation of functionalized graphene containing both fluorine and chlorine atoms is shown. The starting material, fluorographite, undergoes a reaction with dichlorocarbene to provide dichlorocarbene-functionalized fluorographene (DCC-FG). The material is characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy with X-ray dispersive spectroscopy. It is found that the chlorine atoms in DCC-FG are distributed homogeneously over the entire area of the fluorographene sheet. Further density functional theory calculations show that the mechanism of dichlorocarbene attack on fluorographene sheet is a two-step process. Dichlorocarbene detaches fluorine atoms from fluorographene sheet and subsequently adds to the newly formed sp(2) carbons. Halogenated graphene consisting of two (or eventually three) types of halogen atoms is envisioned to find its way as new graphene materials with tailored properties.

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Nitrogen functionalization of graphene offers new hybrid materials with improved performance for important technological applications. Despite studies highlighting the dependence of the performance of nitrogen-functionalized graphene on the types of nitrogen functional groups that are present, precise synthetic control over their ratio is challenging. Herein, the synthesis of nitrogen-functionalized graphene rich in amino groups by a Bucherer-type reaction under hydrothermal conditions is reported. The efficiency of the synthetic method under two hydrothermal conditions was examined for graphite oxide produced by Hummers and Hofmann oxidation routes. The morphological and structural properties of the amino-functionalized graphene were fully characterized. The use of a synthetic method with a well-known mechanism for derivatization of graphene will open new avenues for highly reproducible functionalization of graphene materials.

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The functionalization of graphene provides diverse possibilities to improve the handling of graphene and enable further chemical transformation on graphene. Graphene functionalized with mainly heteroatom-based functional groups to enhance its chemical and physical properties is intensively pursued but often resulted in grafting of the heteroatoms as various functional groups. Here, we show that graphene oxide can be functionalized with predominantly a single type of sulfur moiety and reduced simultaneously to form monothiol-functionalized graphene. The thiol-functionalized graphene shows a high electrical conductivity and heterogeneous electron transfer rate. Graphene is also embedded with a trace amount of manganese impurities originating from a prior graphite oxidation process, which facilitates the thiol-functionalized graphene to function as a hybrid electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reactions in alkaline medium with an onset potential lower than for Pt/C. Further characterizations of the graphene are performed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This material contributes to the class of hybrids that are highly active electrocatalysts.

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Graphene quantum dots is a class of graphene nanomaterials with exceptional luminescence properties. Precise dimension control of graphene quantum dots produced by chemical synthesis methods is currently difficult to achieve and usually provides a range of sizes from 3 to 25 nm. In this work, fullerene C60 is used as starting material, due to its well-defined dimension, to produce very small graphene quantum dots (∼2-3 nm). Treatment of fullerene C60 with a mixture of strong acid and chemical oxidant induced the oxidation, cage-opening, and fragmentation processes of fullerene C60. The synthesized quantum dots were characterized and supported by LDI-TOF MS, TEM, XRD, XPS, AFM, STM, FTIR, DLS, Raman spectroscopy, and luminescence analyses. The quantum dots remained fully dispersed in aqueous suspension and exhibited strong luminescence properties, with the highest intensity at 460 nm under a 340 nm excitation wavelength. Further chemical treatments with hydrazine hydrate and hydroxylamine resulted in red- and blue-shift of the luminescence, respectively.