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Acrylamide (AA), an odorless and colorless organic small-molecule compound found generally in thermally processed foods, possesses potential carcinogenic, neurotoxic, reproductive, and developmental toxicity. Compared with conventional methods for AA detection, bio/chemical sensors have attracted much interest in recent years owing to their reliability, sensitivity, selectivity, convenience, and low cost. This paper provides a comprehensive review of bio/chemical sensors utilized for the detection of AA over the past decade. Specifically, the content is concluded and systematically organized from the perspective of the sensing mechanism, state of selectivity, linear range, detection limits, and robustness. Subsequently, an analysis of the strengths and limitations of diverse analytical technologies ensues, contributing to a thorough discussion about the potential developments in point-of-care (POC) for AA detection in thermally processed foods at the conclusion of this review.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) appears as a valuable liquid biopsy biomarker in the early diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of cancer. Here, a biosensing method derived from the AC electrokinetics (ACEK) effect was constructed in this study for the simple, efficient, and rapid method of detection of ctDNA. In the proof-of-concept experiment, ctDNA from the PIK3CA E542K mutant in breast cancer was quantified by detecting a normalized capacitance change rate using a forked-finger gold electrode as the sensing electrode in combination with the ACEK effect. We compared two formats for the construction of the approach by employing varied immobilization strategies; one is to immobilize the DNA capture probe on the electrode surface by Au–S bonding, while the other immobilizes the probe on a self-assembled membrane on the electrode surface by amide bonding. Both formats demonstrated ultrafast detection speed by completing the ctDNA quantification within 1 min and a linear range of 10 fM–10 pM was observed. Meanwhile, the immobilization via the self-assembled membrane yielded improved stability, sensitivity, and specificity than its Au–S bonding counterpart. A detection limit of 1.94 fM was eventually achieved using the optimized approach. This research provides a label-free and minute-scale universal method for the detection of various malignant tumors. The ctDNA biosensors based on the ACEK effect improved according to the probe type or electrode structure and have potential applications in tumor drug efficacy prediction, drug resistance monitoring, screening of high-risk groups, differential diagnosis, monitoring of tiny residual lesions, and prognosis determination.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the main pathological type of liver cancer. Due to its insidious onset and the lack of specific early markers, HCC is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, and the survival rate of patients with partial liver resection is low. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have emerged as valuable biomarkers for HCC detection, with microRNAs (miRNAs) being a particularly relevant class of short ncRNAs. MiRNAs play a crucial role in gene expression regulation and can serve as biomarkers for early HCC detection. However, the detection of miRNAs poses a significant challenge due to their small molecular weight and low abundance. In recent years, biosensors utilizing electrochemical, optical, and electrochemiluminescent strategies have been developed to address the need for simple, rapid, highly specific, and sensitive miRNA detection. This paper reviews the recent advances in miRNA biosensors and discusses in detail the probe types, electrode materials, sensing strategies, linear ranges, and detection limits of the sensors. These studies are expected to enable early intervention and dynamic monitoring of tumor changes in HCC patients to improve their prognosis and survival status.

As the third gasotransmitter, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes wherein abnormal levels of H2S indicate various diseases. Therefore, an efficient and reliable monitoring of H2S concentration in organisms and living cells is of great significance. Of diverse detection technologies, electrochemical sensors possess the unique advantages of miniaturization, fast detection, and high sensitivity, while the fluorescent and colorimetric ones exhibit exclusive visualization. All these chemical sensors are expected to be leveraged for H2S detection in organisms and living cells, thus offering promising options for wearable devices. In this paper, the chemical sensors used to detect H2S in the last 10 years are reviewed based on the different properties (metal affinity, reducibility, and nucleophilicity) of H2S, simultaneously summarizing the detection materials, methods, linear range, detection limits, selectivity, etc. Meanwhile, the existing problems of such sensors and possible solutions are put forward. This review indicates that these types of chemical sensors competently serve as specific, accurate, highly selective, and sensitive sensor platforms for H2S detection in organisms and living cells.

In Fe-Si alloy systems, the Fe-6.5wt%Si alloy shows low iron core losses and near-zero magnetostriction, thus having great potential for high-frequency applications. In this study, an Fe-6.5wt%Si alloy hot band was subjected to a moderate warm rolling with a thickness reduction of 40%, and then annealed at different temperatures. The recrystallization behavior was investigated using the EBSD technique. After the moderate warm rolling, the initial gradient structure of the hot band is inherited, leading to gradient recrystallization behaviors during the further annealing process. The sheet surface first densely nucleates and forms strong //ND and {221} textures. However, the //ND and {221} grains have fewer high-mobility and high-energy (20–45°) boundaries than the other oriented matrix grains, leading to insufficient growth advantages. In the center region, the recrystallization is slow, but the nuclei usually have larger sizes. The inheritance of the //ND (θ-fiber) texture from the initial hot band appears. Some θ-fiber grains, which have easy-magnetized axes lying in the sheet plane, preferentially nucleate in the strong α-fiber textured matrices and form a strong θ-fiber recrystallization texture in the center region.

Food safety issues are directly related to people’s quality of life, so there is a need to develop efficient and reliable food contaminants’ detection devices to ensure the safety and quality of food. Electrochemical biosensors have the significant advantages of miniaturization, low cost, high sensitivity, high selectivity, rapid detection, and low detection limits using small amounts of samples, which are expected to enable on-site analysis of food products. In this paper, the latest electrochemical biosensors for the detection of biological contaminants, chemical contaminants, and genetically modified crops are reviewed based on the analytes of interest, electrode materials and modification methods, electrochemical methods, and detection limits. This review shows that electrochemical biosensors are poised to provide miniaturized, specific, selective, fast detection, and high-sensitivity sensor platforms for food safety.

Early diagnosis and treatment have always been highly desired in the fight against cancer, and detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has recently been touted as highly promising for early cancer-screening. Consequently, the detection of ctDNA in liquid biopsy is gaining much attention in the field of tumor diagnosis and treatment, which has also attracted research interest from industry. However, it is difficult to achieve low-cost, real-time, and portable measurement of ctDNA in traditional gene-detection technology. Electrochemical biosensors have become a highly promising solution to ctDNA detection due to their unique advantages such as high sensitivity, high specificity, low cost, and good portability. Therefore, this review aims to discuss the latest developments in biosensors for minimally invasive, rapid, and real-time ctDNA detection. Various ctDNA sensors are reviewed with respect to their choices of receptor probes, designs of electrodes, detection strategies, preparation of samples, and figures of merit, sorted by type of electrode surface recognition elements. The development of biosensors for the Internet of Things, point-of-care testing, big data, and big health is analyzed, with a focus on their portable, real-time, and non-destructive characteristics.

A sensitive and efficient method for microRNAs (miRNAs) detection is strongly desired by clinicians and, in recent years, the search for such a method has drawn much attention. There has been significant interest in using miRNA as biomarkers for multiple diseases and conditions in clinical diagnostics. Presently, most miRNA detection methods suffer from drawbacks, e.g., low sensitivity, long assay time, expensive equipment, trained personnel, or unsuitability for point-of-care. New methodologies are needed to overcome these limitations to allow rapid, sensitive, low-cost, easy-to-use, and portable methods for miRNA detection at the point of care. In this work, to overcome these shortcomings, we integrated capacitive sensing and alternating current electrokinetic effects to detect specific miRNA-16b molecules, as a model, with the limit of detection reaching 1.0 femto molar (fM) levels. The specificity of the sensor was verified by testing miRNA-25, which has the same length as miRNA-16b. The sensor we developed demonstrated significant improvements in sensitivity, response time and cost over other miRNA detection methods, and has application potential at point-of-care.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor that may lead to reproductive disorder, heart disease, and diabetes. Infants and young children are likely to be vulnerable to the effects of BPA. At present, the detection methods of BPA are complicated to operate and require expensive instruments. Therefore, it is quite vital to develop a simple, rapid, and highly sensitive method to detect BPA in different samples. In this study, we have designed a rapid and highly sensitive biosensor based on an effective self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and alternating current (AC) electrokinetics capacitive sensing method, which successfully detected BPA at nanomolar levels with only one minute. The developed biosensor demonstrates a detection of BPA ranging from 0.028 μg/mL to 280 μg/mL with a limit of detection (LOD) down to 0.028 μg/mL in the samples. The developed biosensor exhibited great potential as a portable BPA biosensor, and further development of this biosensor may also be useful in the detection of other small biochemical molecules.

A novel primary consequent-pole tubular transverse-flux flux-reversal linear machine (TTFFRLM) is proposed in this paper. The permanent magnets (PMs) of the machine are located on the inner surface of the short teeth of the primary iron cores for reducing the amount of PM in long stroke drive systems, and the primary is easily manufactured. The structure and principle of this machine are analyzed in detail. Based on the unit machine, a no-load equivalent magnetic circuit model is established by using the magnetic circuit method. Then, the equations of the no-load back electromotive force (back-EMF) and the electromagnetic thrust force are deduced. The simulation models of the unit machine are established by equivalent 2D finite element method (FEM) for saving computation time, and the static characteristics, including the flux field, the no-load back-EMF, and the electromagnetic thrust force, are analyzed. Detailed simulation and experimental results of a three-phase 4-poles 12-slots machine are given. The results verify the correctness and effectiveness of topology, model, and analysis method of the proposed TTFFRLM. Compared with the conventional TTFFRLM, the proposed prototype has the advantages of a lower cost and smaller electromagnetic thrust force ripple.