MXene nanoflakes decorating ZnO tetrapods for enhanced performance of skin-attachable stretchable enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensor
Valerii Myndrul a, Emerson Coy a, Nataliya Babayevska a, Veronika Zahorodna b, Vitalii Balitskyi b, Ivan Baginskiy b, Oleksiy Gogotsi b, Mikhael Bechelany c, Maria Teresa Giardi d,e , Igor Iatsunskyi a
a NanoBioMedical Centre, Adam Mickiewicz University, 3, Wszechnicy Piastowskiej Str., 61-614, Poznan, Poland
b Materials Research Center, Krzhizhanovskogo street, 3, 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine
c Institut Européendes Membranes, IEM, UMR5635, Univ Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, 34095, Montpellier, CEDEX5, France
d Biosensor Srl, Via Degli Olmetti 44, 00060, Formello, Rome, Italy
e Istituto di Cristallografia, CNR Area Della Ricerca di Roma, 00015, Monterotondo Scalo, Rome, Italy
Received 23 December 2021, Revised 24 February 2022, Accepted 27 February 2022, Available online 6 March 2022, Version of Record 14 March 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2022.114141
Highlights
• A skin-attachable sensor for sweat glucose monitoring based on ZnO/MXene is designed.
• ZnO TPs/MXene exhibits an enhanced catalytic activity towards glucose oxidation.
• Electrochemical sensor shows high selectivity, long-term and mechanical stabilities.
• ZnO TPs/MXene sensor provides a low limit of detection (≈17 μM) of glucose in sweat.
• Results of in vivo glucose detection correlate with data of finger-prick blood tests.
Abstract
Continuous painless glucose monitoring is the greatest desire of more than 422 million diabetics worldwide. Therefore, new non-invasive and convenient approaches to glucose monitoring are more in demand than other tests for microanalytical diagnostic tools. Besides, blood glucose detection can be replaced by continuous glucose monitoring of other human biological fluids (e.g. sweat) collected non-invasively. In this study, a skin-attachable and stretchable electrochemical enzymatic sensor based on ZnO tetrapods (TPs) and a new class of 2D materials - transition metal carbides, known as MXene, was developed and their electroanalytical behavior was tailored for continuous detection glucose in sweat. The high specific area of ZnO TPs and superior electrical conductivity of MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanoflakes enabled to produce enzymatic electrochemical glucose biosensor with enhanced sensitivity in sweat sample (29 μA mM−1 cm−2), low limit of detection (LOD ≈ 17 μM), broad linear detection range (LDR = 0.05–0.7 mM) that satisfices glucose detection application in human sweat, and advanced mechanical stability (up to 30% stretching) of the template. The developed skin-attachable stretchable electrochemical electrodes allowed to monitor the level of glucose in sweat while sugar uptake and during physical activity. Continuous in vivo monitoring of glucose in sweat obtained during 60 min correlated well with data collected by a conventional amperometric blood glucometer in vitro mode. Our findings demonstrate the high potential of developed ZnO/MXene skin-attachable stretchable sensors for biomedical applications on a daily basis.
Keywords: MXene, ZnO tetrapods, Glucose sensor, Glucose oxidase, Sweat glucose monitoring.
Cite:
Valerii Myndrul, Emerson Coy, Nataliya Babayevska, Veronika Zahorodna, Vitalii Balitskyi, Ivan Baginskiy, Oleksiy Gogotsi, Mikhael Bechelany, Maria Teresa Giardi, Igor Iatsunskyi, MXene nanoflakes decorating ZnO tetrapods for enhanced performance of skin-attachable stretchable enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensor, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Volume 207, 2022, 114141, ISSN 0956-5663, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2022.114141.
Here we demonstrate a new developed method for depositing Ti3C2Tx MXenes onto hydrophobic electrospun PCL membranes using oxygen plasma treatment. These novel patches hold tremendous potential for providing mechanical support to damaged heart tissue and enabling electrical signal transmission,thereby mimicking the crucial electroconductivity required for normal cardiac function. After a detailed investigation of scaffold-to-cell interplay, including electrical stimulation, novel technology has the potential for clinical application not only for cardiac regeneration, but also as neural and muscular tissue substitutes.
MX-MAP project participants from MRC Dr. Oleksiy Gogotsi and Veronika Zahorodna performed split secondment visit to project partner organization University of Padova (Italy). MX-MAP project works on development of the key strategies for MXene medical applications. 
CanbioSe Project Meeting and Project Workshop was held at European Institute of Membranes (IEM), University of Montpellier, France on September 26-27, 2023. The workshop was focused on the theme of "Commercializing Biosensors, Intellectual Property, and Knowledge Transfer from Academia to Industry.
Dr. Oleksiy Gogotsi and Veronika Zahorodna visited IEEE NAP 2023 conference held in Bratislava on September 10-15, 2023. The prime focus of the IEEE NAP-2023 was on nanoscale materials with emphasis on interdisciplinary research exploring and exploiting their unique physical and chemical proprieties for practical applications.
Director of MRC and Carbon-Ukraine Dr. Oleksiy Gogotsi visited CEST labs in Wiener Neustadt (Low Energy Ion Scattering, Batteries development) and TU Vienna (ELSA, SFA). He meet with Dr. Pierluigi Bilotto, Dr. Chriatian Pichler and their colleagues, discussing novel materials and r&d activities for new technologies.
MX-MAP Session was held during the YUCOMAT Conference 2023 titled: "Towards MXenes’ biomedical applications by high-dimensional immune MAPping", HORIZON-MSCA-2021-SE-01 project MX-MAP.
CANBIOSE project participants from MRC Dr. Oleksiy Gogotsi and Veronika Zahorodna performed secondment visit to project partner organization European Institute of Membranes in Montpellier (France) on August -September 2023.
MRC researchers Dr. Oleksiy Gogotsi and Veronika Zahorodna were visiting Nanobiomedical Centre, Adam Mickewicz University in Poznan, Poland due to close collaboration with AMU team led by Dr. Igor Iatsunskiy. 
Meeting during the MXene international conference held in Drexel University on Aug. 3, 2022, and discussing the roadmap for launching MX-MAP research project on MXenes for medical applications.