Laser scribing is a technique that converts carbon-rich precursors into 3D-graphene nanomaterial via direct, single-step, and maskless laser writing in environmental conditions and using a scalable approach. It allows simple, fast, and reagentless production of a promising material with outstanding physicochemical features to create novel electrochemical sensors and biosensors. This review addresses different strategies for fabricating laser-scribed graphene (LSG) devices and their association with nanomaterials, polymers, and biological molecules. We provide an overview of their applications in environmental and health monitoring, food safety, and clinical diagnosis. The advantages of their integration with machine learning models to achieve low bias and enhance accuracy for data analysis is also addressed. Finally, in this review our insights into current challenges and perspectives for LSG electrochemical sensors are presented.
In response to the requirement for alternative energy conversion and storage methods, metal-glycerolates (MG) and their analogs are considered promising classes of electrode material that can be synthesized in various designs. Recently, the concept of high-entropy configuration and multimetallic systems has gained attention in the field of electrocatalysis. In fact, the presence of five or more metals in a single-phase material can produce unique and unexpected properties. Thus, it becomes crucial to explore different metal combinations and evaluate their synergistic interaction as a result of these combinations. Therefore, in this work, a scalable solvothermal method was used to synthesize a high-entropy glycerolate (HEG) containing Ni, Zn, Mn, Mg, and Co ions (HEG) and their respective sub-systems such as NiG, NiMnG, and NiMnZnG. The SEM-EDS images showed the excellent distribution of the metal cations in the obtained microspheres. Surprisingly, our experiments demonstrated that even in reaching a single-phase HEG, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance measured in 1 M KOH electrolyte did not surpass the benefit effect observed in the NiG-based carbon paste with an overpotential of 310 mV (@10 mA cm–2), against 341 mV (@10 mA cm–2) of HEG. Moreover, the NiG shows good stability toward OER even after 24 h, which is attributed to the NiOOH active phase generated during the electrochemical cycling.
Laser engraving is a convenient, fast, one-step, and environmentally friendly technique used to produce more conductive surfaces by local pyrolysis. The laser’s thermal treatment can also remove non-conductive materials from the electrode surfaces and improve electrochemical performance. The improvement was assessed by electrochemical tools such as cyclic voltammograms and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy using [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− and dopamine as redox probes. The electrochemical results observed showed that a treated surface showed an improvement in electron transfer and less resistance to charge transfer. To optimize the electrode performance, it was necessary to search for the most favorable graphite mines and optimize the parameters of the laser machine (laser power, scan rate, and output distance). The resultant material was adequately characterized by Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), where an irregular surface composed of crystalline graphite particles was noticed. Furthermore, as a proof-of-concept, it was applied to detect indapamide (IND) in synthetic urine by flow injection analysis (FIA), a diuretic drug often used by athletes to alter urine composition to hide forbidden substance consumption in doping tests.