Publications by authors named "Florina Pogǎcean"

Increased evidence has documented a direct association between Ciprofloxacin (CFX) intake and significant disruption to the normal functions of connective tissues, leading to severe health conditions (such as tendonitis, tendon rupture and retinal detachment). Additionally, CFX is recognized as a potential emerging pollutant, as it seems to impact both animal and human food chains, resulting in severe health implications. Consequently, there is a compelling need for the precise, swift and selective detection of this fluoroquinolone-class antibiotic.

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Due to the multitude of physiological functions, ferulic acid (FA) has a wide range of applications in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Thus, the development of rapid, sensitive, and selective detection tools for its assay is of great interest. This study reports a new electroanalytical approach for the quantification of ferulic acid in commercial pharmaceutical samples using a sulphur-doped graphene-based electrochemical sensing platform.

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The importance of nitrite ions has long been recognized due to their extensive use in environmental chemistry and public health. The growing use of nitrogen fertilizers and additives containing nitrite in processed food items has increased exposure and, as a result, generated concerns about potential harmful health consequences. This work presents the development of an electrochemical sensor based on graphene/glassy carbon electrode (EGr/GC) with applicability in trace level detection of nitrite in water samples.

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Article Synopsis
  • Bacterial infections are becoming a serious issue due to rising antibiotic resistance, prompting urgent efforts to develop new treatments or enhance existing ones.
  • Graphene decorated with silver nanoparticles (Gr-Ag) shows strong potential as an antibacterial agent, exhibiting inhibitory effects against tested bacterial strains.
  • A HEPA filter modified with Gr-Ag demonstrated enhanced bactericidal properties, particularly against Gram-negative bacteria, and effectively reduced the bacteria's ability to form colonies, suggesting a significant advancement in antibacterial technology.
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Due to the recent increase in average living standards, food safety has caught public attention. It is necessary to conduct a qualitative and quantitative rapid test of prohibited food additives since the inclusion of food additives or the improper usage of synthetic dyes can negatively impact on the human health. Herein, a highly sensitive method for Sunset Yellow detection based on a glassy carbon electrode modified with few-layer graphenes was proposed.

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Because of the widespread acetaminophen usage and the danger of harmful overdosing effects, developing appropriate procedures for its quantitative and qualitative assay has always been an intriguing and fascinating problem. A quick, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly approach based on direct voltage anodic graphite rod exfoliation in the presence of inorganic salt aqueous solution ((NH)SO-0.3 M) has been established for the preparation of nitrogen-doped graphene (exf-NGr).

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Four carbon materials, spent coffee-ground biochar, carbon black, short CNTs, and nitrogen-doped few-layer graphene (N-graphene) were tested for their functionalization with a commercial carboxylesterase. Their robustness to variations in time and key physicochemical parameters (temperature and pH) was analysed. In general, carbon nanomaterials showed better performance than biochar, both in terms of binding capacity and resilience in harsh conditions, at statistically significant levels.

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Article Synopsis
  • An electrochemical cell with graphite rods and a specific electrolyte was used to synthesize graphene (EGr) by applying a 7 V bias for 3 hours.
  • After the synthesis, characterization techniques like SEM, XRD, and FTIR were employed to analyze the structure and morphology of the graphene material, which was then used to modify a glassy carbon electrode (EGr/GC).
  • The EGr/GC electrode demonstrated significantly improved electrochemical performance for detecting azithromycin (AZT), showing a higher oxidation peak at a lower potential and three times greater sensitivity compared to the bare GC electrode.
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A new electrode based on glassy carbon modified with a sulphur-doped graphene material was successfully developed and applied for caffeic acid (CA) voltammetric detection and quantification. The structural features of sulphur-doped graphene (exfGR-S) characterized by different physicochemical and analytical techniques are presented. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique was employed to evaluate the electrochemical behavior of both bare glassy carbon (GCE) and modified GCE/exfGr-S electrodes towards CA oxidation.

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In this study, a graphene sample (EGr) was synthesized by electrochemical exfoliation of graphite rods in electrolyte solution containing 0.1 M ammonia and 0.1 M ammonium thiocyanate.

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A sample of nitrogen and boron co-doped graphene (NB-Gr) was obtained by the hydrothermal method using urea and boric acid as doping sources. According to XRD analysis, the NB-Gr sample was formed by five-layer graphene. In addition, the XPS analysis confirmed the nitrogen and boron co-doping of the graphene sample.

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A graphene sample (EGr) was prepared by electrochemical exfoliation of graphite rods in solution containing 0.05 M (NH)SO + 0.1 M HBO + 0.

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N-doped graphene-ZnO hybrid materials with different N-doped graphene:ZnO wt% ratios (1:10; 1:20; 1:30) were prepared by a simple and inexpensive sol-gel method. The materials denoted NGr-ZnO-1 (1:10), NGr-ZnO-2 (1:20), and NGr-ZnO-3 (1:30) were investigated with advanced techniques and their morpho-structural, photocatalytic, and electrocatalytic properties were reported. Hence, pure N-doped graphene sample contains flakes with the size ranging from hundreds of nanometers to micrometers.

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Flexible screen-printed electrodes (HP) were fabricated on stone paper substrate and amperometrically modified with gold nanoparticles (HP-AuNPs). The modified electrode displayed improved electronic transport properties, reflected in a low charge-transfer resistance (1220 Ω) and high apparent heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (1.94 × 10 cm/s).

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Three nitrogen-doped graphene samples were synthesized by the hydrothermal method using urea as doping/reducing agent for graphene oxide (GO), previously dispersed in water. The mixture was poured into an autoclave and placed in the oven at 160 °C for 3, 8 and 12 h. The samples were correspondingly denoted NGr-1, NGr-2 and NGr-3.

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The release of synthetic food dyes, like Sunset yellow, into industrial effluents can cause serious environmental and health problems. Due to its aromatic structure, it is recalcitrant towards degradation into non-toxic intermediates and its removal by efficient adsorption represents a cheap and efficient method. Herein we propose the use of thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) as effective Sunset yellow dye adsorbent with an adsorption maximum capacity comparable with other sophisticated, chemically synthesized carbon-based nanomaterials.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study describes a method for creating graphene by exfoliating graphite rods using short current pulses in a boric acid and sodium chloride electrolyte solution.
  • - Advanced techniques like SEM, TEM, XRD, and FTIR were used to analyze the structure of the graphene, revealing a composition of about 83% few-layer graphene (FLG) and 17% multi-layer graphene (MLG).
  • - A modified screen-printed electrode (SPE-Gr) incorporating the graphene showed improved sensitivity for detecting 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine compared to a standard SPE, tested in both laboratory solutions and human saliva.
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In this paper we present for the first time a novel method for graphene-based materials synthesis, by exfoliation of graphite rods via pulses of current (pulse duration of 2.5 s; pause between two pulses of 0.8 s).

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Graphene nanosheets (EGr) were electrochemically prepared through one-step exfoliation of a graphite rod in a mixture of HSO:HNO (3:1) at low bias (4 V). Subsequently, gold nanoparticles were attached to the graphene surface (EGr-Au) by the reduction of the metal precursor (HAuCl) in aqueous solution containing dispersed graphene sheets. According to the XRD investigation, the synthesized material consists of a mixture of few-layer (86%) and multi-layer (14%) graphene.

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A novel nanocomposite was developed and used for trace determination of Pb cations from aqueous solutions. The nanocomposite was obtained by the association of N-doped graphene (N-Gr) with a biocompatible polymer, namely chitosan (Ch). The characterization of the new nanocomposite material (Ch-N-Gr) was performed using TEM, STEM-EDX, SEM, XRD and XPS techniques.

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This study brings for the first time novel knowledge about the synthesis by catalytic chemical vapor deposition with induction heating of graphene-bimetallic nanoparticle composites (Gr-AuCu and Gr-AgCu) and their morphological and structural characterization by transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray powder diffraction. Gold electrodes modified with the obtained materials exhibit an enhanced electro-catalytic effect towards one of the most encountered estrogenic disruptive chemicals, bisphenol A (BPA). The BPA behavior in varying pH solutions was investigated using the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, which allowed the accurate determination of the number of molecules involved in the oxidation process.

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Graphene-oxide (GO) and its most encountered derivatives, thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) and nitrogen-doped graphene (N-Gr), were synthesized and structurally characterized by spectroscopic techniques, like Raman and (13)C MAS solid state NMR. Several biological effects (cytotoxicity, oxidative stress induction, and cellular and mithocondrial membrane alterations) induced by such graphene-based materials on human dental follicle stem cells were investigated. Graphene oxide shows the lowest cytotoxic effect, followed by the nitrogen-doped graphene, while thermally reduced graphene oxide exhibits high cytotoxic effects.

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The oxidative damage of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has been intensively studied due to its role in the occurrence of some diseases. The hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is one of the reactive oxygen species (ROS). It can induce oxidation of DNA bases, sugar lesions or DNA strand breaks.

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In this paper, we present a novel approach for the electrochemical detection of S-captopril based on graphene AuAg nanostructures used to modify an Au electrode. Multi-layer graphene (Gr) sheets decorated with embedded bimetallic AuAg nanoparticles were successfully synthesized catalytically with methane as the carbon source. The two catalytic systems contained 1.

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This work describes the synthesis of few-layer graphene sheets embedded with various amounts of gold nanoparticles (Gr-Au-x) over an Aux/MgO catalytic system (where × = 1, 2, or 3 wt%). The sheet-like morphology of the Gr-Au-x nanostructures was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy, which also demonstrated that the number of layers within the sheets varied from two to seven. The sample with the highest percentage of gold nanoparticles embedded within the graphitic layers (Gr-Au-3) showed the highest degree of crystallinity.

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