Detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV CoV-2) pathogen and protein biomarkers can improve the diagnosis accuracy for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Electrochemical biosensors have attracted extensive attention in the scientific community because of their simple design, fast response, good portability, high sensitivity and high selectivity. In this review, we summarized the progress in the electrochemical detection of COVID-19 pathogen and SARS-CoV-2 biomarkers, including SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and nucleocapsid protein and their antibodies.

This work reported an electrochemical method for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 major protease (Mpro). Specifically, ferrocene (Fc)-labeled peptide substrates were immobilized on the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-modified electrode. Cleavage of the peptides by Mpro led to the release of Fc tags and the decrease of the electrochemical signals. The analytical performance of the biosensor for analysis of Mpro was investigated. Inhibiting the activity of Mpro prevented the cleavage of the peptide substrates. The method was successfully used to evaluate the inhibition efficiency of a well-known inhibitor.

Electro-Fenton (EF) and ultrasound radiation (US) have been of interest for the removal of chlorinated compounds from water. This study evaluates the effects of different parameters on sono-electro-Fenton (SEF) for degradation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) in an aqueous solution. This study uses pulsing US waves along with Pd-catalyzed EF to degrade contaminants in water while maintaining temperature. The usage of pulsing US waves along with Pd catalyzed EF to remove contaminants while maintaining temperature has not been reported previously. SEF ability to degrade 4-CP was compared with the performance of each process (EF and sonolysis) alone. Initial pH, current density, background electrolyte, Fe concentration, Pd/AlO catalyst concentration, US waves, and sonifier amplitude were optimized in a two electrode (Ti/mixed metal oxide or Ti/MMO) batch system. The degradation of 4-CP increased from 1.85% by US to 83% by EF to nearly >99.9% by coupled SEF. With US radiation under 70% amplitude and 1:10 ON/OFF ratio, the removal rate of 4-CP increased to 98% compared to 62% under EF alone within the first 120 min in the presence of 80 mg L Fe, 16.94 mA cm of current density, 1 g L Pd/AlO catalyst (10 mg Pd), and initial pH of 3. However, the degradation rate decreased after 120 min of treatment, and complete 4-CP removal was observed after 300 minutes. The sonolysis impacted the 4-CP removal under coupled SEF, mostly due to the contribution of mass transfer (micromixing), while radical formation was found to be absent under the conditions tested (20kHz). The pulsed US was found to increase the temperature by only 8.7°C, which was found not to impact the 4-CP volatilization or degradation. These results imply that low-level US frequency through pulses is a practical and efficient approach to support electro-Fenton reaction, improving reaction rates without the need for electrolyte cooling.

In this study, we evaluated the removal of nitrate from synthetic groundwater by a cathode followed by an anode electrode sequence in the electrochemical flow-through reactor. We also tested the feasibility of the used electrode sequence to minimize the production of ammonia during the nitrate reduction. The performance of monometallic Fe, Cu, Ni and carbon foam cathodes was tested under different current intensities, flow rates/regimes and the presence of Pd and Ag catalyst coating. With the use of monometallic Fe and an increase in current intensity from 60 mA to 120 mA, the nitrate removal rate increased from 7.6% to 25.0%, but values above 120 mA caused a decrease in removal due to excessive gas formation at the electrodes. Among tested materials, monometallic Fe foam cathode showed the highest nitrates removal rate and increased significantly in the presence of Pd catalyst: from 25.0% to 39.8%. Further, the circulation under 3 mL min elevated the nitrate removal by 33% and the final nitrate concentration fell below the maximum contaminant level of 10 mg L nitrate-nitrogen (NO-N). During the treatment, the yield of ammonia production after the cathode was 92±4% while after the anode (Ti/IrO/TaO), the amount of ammonia significantly declined to 50%. The results proved that flow-through, undivided electrochemical systems can be used to remove nitrate from groundwater with the possibility of simultaneously controlling the generation of ammonia.

We present here comparison of a build-up of two ultrasensitive lectin biosensors based on 2D or 3D architecture. A 2D lectin biosensor was prepared by a covalent immobilisation of lectin agglutinin (SNA) recognising sialic acid directly on a mixed self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on planar gold surfaces. A 3D biosensor was prepared by covalent immobilisation of SNA lectin on a mixed SAM layer formed on gold nanoparticles. Surface plasmon resonance technique allowed to follow kinetics of a mixed SAM (1:1 mixture of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid and 6-mercaptohexanol) formation on a bare gold electrode and on an electrode modified by 5 nm and 20 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Results from the study revealed that a mixed SAM formation is slower on surfaces with increased curvature, the process of SAM formation on all surfaces is completed within 6 min, but a density of thiols on such surfaces differs significantly. Quartz crystal microbalance experiments showed that a surface density of immobilised lectin of (2.53 ± 0.01) pmol cm was higher on planar gold surface compared to the surface modified by 20 nm AuNPs with a surface density of (0.94 ± 0.01) pmol cm. Even though a larger amount of SNA lectin was immobilised on a surface of the 2D biosensor compared to the 3D biosensor, lectin molecules immobilised on AuNPs were more accessible for its analytes - glycoproteins fetuin and asialofetuin, containing different amount of sialic acid on the protein surface. Most likely a better accessibility of lectin for its analytes on a 3D surface and proper interfacial properties of a 3D surface are behind unprecedented detection limit down to aM level for the lectin biosensor based on such a nanoscale tuned interface.