Solid-State On-Substrate Synthesis of Size-Controlled CuPt@CuO Core-Shell Nanocubes and Applications for Electrochemical Sensing and Electrocatalytic Methanol Oxidation Reaction.

The development of size- and shape-controlled nanomaterials is essential to tailor their properties and performance for wide-ranging applications from catalysis to sensing. Solid-state synthesis of nanostructures is attractive from a sustainability perspective, but they typically lack the desired size and shape control at small-scale dimensions. This work shows that colloidal precursors can be used in a solid-state route to form hybrid core-shell nanostructures with simultaneous size and morphology control.

Electrochemical Discrimination of Salbutamol from Its Excipients in Ventolin at Nanoporous Gold Microdisc Arrays.

The emergence of specific drug-device combination products in the inhalable pharmaceutical industry demands more sophistication of device functionality in the form of an embedded sensing platform to increase patient safety and extend patent coverage. Controlling the nebuliser function at a miniaturised, integrated electrochemical sensing platform with rapid response time and supporting novel algorithms could deliver such a technology offering. Development of a nanoporous gold (NPG) electrochemical sensor capable of creating a unique fingerprint signal generated by inhalable pharmaceuticals provided the impetus for our study of the electrooxidation of salbutamol, which is the active bronchodilatory ingredient in Ventolin formulations.