This review examines the current status (from 2016 to December 2018) of the electroanalytical application of boron-doped diamond (BDD), in view of its advantages and challenges for electroanalytical applications. The effect of the boron-doping level, sp³/sp² ratio, and BDD surface termination on the electrochemical properties of BDD electrodes is discussed. The most interesting and significant developments concerning the electrochemical oxidation and reduction of chemical substances onto BDD in single and multi-analyte modes, the beneficial role of surfactants in BDD electrode-based electroanalysis, surface modifications, modification of electrode surfaces with metal nanoparticles, porous BDD surfaces, and the specificity of BDDEs in the microfluidic context, are considered. Basic information on the electroanalysis of organic substances in single- and multi-analyte detection modes is given in the tables. Other non-common electroanalytical applications of BDD, such as BDD as an electrode material for electrogenerated electrochemiluminescence, and BDD for in vivo on-line determination of analytes, detecting bio-potential changes in plants, and pH and gas sensing, are presented.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are regarded as promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in the field of energy, especially in large-scale energy storage systems. Tremendous effort has been put into the electrode research of SIBs, and hard carbon (HC) stands out among the anode materials due to its advantages in cost, resource, industrial processes, and safety. However, different from the application of graphite in LIBs, HC, as a disordered carbon material, leaves more to be completely comprehended about its sodium storage mechanism, and there is still plenty of room for improvement in its capacity, rate performance and cycling performance. This paper reviews the research reports on HC materials in recent years, especially the research process of the sodium storage mechanism and the modification and optimization of HC materials. Finally, the review summarizes the sterling achievements and the challenges on the basis of recent progress, as well as the prospects on the development of HC anode materials in SIBs.

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is one of the most used enzymes for the diagnosis and monitoring of many diseases. This can be achieved by either detecting ALP as a biomarker or using ALP as the label of enzyme-linked bioassays. ALP-based electrochemical sensors have been considered as promising tools in biosensor devices for POCT systems thanks to their high sensitivity and selectivity, low cost, ease of use, portability, simplicity of construction and excellent compatibility with miniaturization technologies. These electrochemical sensors can be used for the diagnosis of different diseases such as cancers, hormonal diseases, bacterial diseases, etc. via the detection of ALP as a biomarker or other biomarkers using ALP as the label. This review summarizes some of the recent advances related to ALP-based electrochemical sensors for the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases between 2016 and 2018.

Chemiluminescence of indigo carmine/glucose/hemin/H ₂ O ₂ has been reported for the first time, and used for sensitive non-enzymatic detection of glucose and indigo carmine.