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Oil spilled during transportation, domestic, and industrial usage causes grave water and soil pollution. Therefore, oil recovery through absorption or separation from water has been a challenge to the scientific community. The 3D porous structure of polyurethane (PU) sponge attracted significant attention in oil-water separation applications. However, its poor hydrophobicity decreases and limits its oil-absorption efficacy dramatically. In this paper, we focused on improving the hydrophobicity of the sponge by modifying it with graphene oxide (GO) followed by its reduction to reduce graphene oxide (rGO) via a commonly available green reducing agent, L-ascorbic acid (L-AA). The rGO modified PU sponge was used to absorb and collect oil from an oil-water mixture with satisfactory recoveries of up to ~ 97%. Moreover, the prepared rGO-PU sponge exhibited excellent reusability and compressibility without any crack or leaking. Finally, we compared the results of this study with rGO modified cotton (rGO-cotton) surfaces prepared via the same protocols. The results show that the high compressible and porous nature of sponges (rGO-PU) outperformed the rGO-cotton. Furthermore, this research work was proven to be environmentally friendly and cost-effective absorbent for efficiently extracting oil from oil-water mixtures with fewer toxic chemicals and cheap raw materials utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXene, a novel class of 2-dimensional transition metal carbides has evolved as a promising material for various applications owing to its outstanding characteristics such as hydrophilicity, high electrical conductivity, surface area, and attractive topological structure. MXenes can form dispersion in common solvents and constitute composite with other nanomaterials, which can be utilized as effective transducers for molecular sensing. MXene-modified support materials, thus provide an intriguing platform for immobilization of target molecules onto their surface. The literature reveals that it has been increasingly utilized in the sensing of diverse types of analytes including glucose, pharmaceuticals, metals and dyes, cancer markers, pesticides, neurotransmitters, small valuable molecules, and so on. In this review, we summarize the recent updates in the MXene modified materials for sensing. For the convenience of our audience, we have distributed the analytes into categories and discussed them comprehensively. Not only we present the synthesis approach, electrochemical properties and surface chemistry of MXenes but also discussed briefly the current challenges and an outlook for future research in the related area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial contaminations and infections are hazardous and pose crucial concerns for humans. They result in severe morbidity and mortality around the globe. Even though dish-culturing, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) exhibits accurate and reliable detection of bacteria but these methods are time-consuming, laborious, and expensive. This warrants early detection and quantification of bacteria for timely diagnosis and treatment. Bacteria imprinting ensures a solution for selective and early detection of bacteria by snagging them inside their imprinted cavities. This review provides an insight into MIPs based bacterial detection strategies, challenges, and future perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer has been responsible for high morbidity and mortality globally. The treatment of cancer is possible using different kinds of therapies using anticancer drugs if it is diagnosed at the right time. Nevertheless, their appropriate administration for maximum therapeutic effect and their elimination from the patient's body causing environmental problems are two big issues which could be successfully abated using molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) owing to their unique features. In this review, we have compiled and discussed the works on the determination and controlled release of anticancer drugs based on MIPs. We also highlighted the current challenges and remedies, and the future direction of MIPs in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXenes, 2-dimensional (2D) layered materials, have been able to garner immense popularity among researchers and academia alike in recent times. MXenes are typically produced from the selective etching of "A" group metal layer using an etchant (usually HF) from the parent MAX phase structure where M represents a metal from early transition metals. Their unique surface chemistry and intriguing electrochemical behavior, combined with their high biocompatibility, make them ideal as a support matrix for the development of cutting-edge electrochemical energy storage, biomedicine, electrochemical sensing, and biosensing devices. Due to the surging demand for batteries that can enable recent technological advancements such as electric vehicles to reach their full potential, the high specific capacitance and outstanding electrochemical energy storage of MXenes are under extensive research in recent times. Ti-based MXene has shown tremendous potential and thus many excellent reviews appeared around it and other MXenes in general. However, there are not many specialized reviews for other types of MXenes. Herein, we reviewed the current research advances, challenges, and prospects of the three most popular MXenes: Niobium (Nb), Vanadium (V), and Molybdenum (Mo) based MXenes. The applications of each form of MXene have been divided into categories for the reader's convenience. Finally, we have highlighted the challenges and future perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review is aimed to discuss the molecular imprinted polymer (MIP)-based drug delivery systems (DDS). Molecular imprinted polymers have proved to possess the potential and also as a suitable material in several areas over a long period of time. However, only recently it has been employed for pharmaceuticals and biomedical applications, particularly as drug delivery vehicles due to properties including selective recognition generated from imprinting the desired analyte, favorable in harsh experimental conditions, and feedback-controlled recognitive drug release. Hence, this review will discuss their synthesis, the reason they are selected as drug delivery vehicles and for their applications in several drug administration routes (i.e. transdermal, ocular and gastrointestinal or stimuli-reactive routes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMolecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based electrochemical sensors have been extensively researched due to their higher sensitivity, quick response, and operational ease. To develop more advanced sensing devices with enhanced properties, MIPs have been integrated with two-dimensional (2D) layered materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and MXenes. These 2D materials have unique electronic properties and an extended surface area, making them promising sensing materials that can improve the performance of MIPs. In this review article, we describe the methods used for the synthesis of TMDs and MXenes integrated MIP-based electrochemical sensors. Furthermore, we have provided a critical review of a wide range of analytes determined through the application of these electrochemical sensors. We also go over the influence of TMDs and MXenes on the binding kinetics and adsorption capacity which has enhanced binding recognition and sensing abilities. The combination of TMDs and MXenes with MIPs shows promising synergy in the development of highly efficient recognition materials. In the future, these sensors could be explored for a wider range of applications in environmental remediation, drug delivery, energy storage, and more. Finally, we address the challenges and future perspectives of using TMDs and MXenes integrated MIPs. We conclude with a focus on future development and the scope of integrating these materials in sensing technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]