Nanostructured ZnO with its unique properties could provide a suitable microenvironment for immobilization of enzymes while retaining their biological activity, and thus lead to an expanded use of this nanomaterial for the construction of electrochemical biosensors with enhanced analytical performance. ZnO-based enzyme electrochemical biosensors are summarized in several tables for an easy overview according to the target biosensing analyte (glucose, hydrogen peroxide, phenol and cholesterol), respectively. Moreover, recent developments in enzyme electrochemical biosensors based on ZnO nanomaterials are reviewed with an emphasis on the fabrications and features of ZnO, approaches for biosensor construction (e.g., modified electrodes and enzyme immobilization) and biosensor performances.

Here, a novel kind of CDs were electrochemically exfoliated from graphite rods using distilled water as the only electrolyte.

An electrochemical approach is introduced for synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) by exfoliating graphite rods at a voltage of 15 V in an electrolyte consisting of a mixture of water and two ionic liquids. It is found that the size of the CDs can be tuned by varying the fraction of water in the mixed electrolyte; CDs in sizes of 4.9, 4.1 and 3.1 nm are obtained if the electrolyte contains water in fractions of 24, 38 and 56 %, respectively. The CDs have a quantum yield of almost 10 % and display the typical excitation wavelength-dependent maxima of photoluminescence, strongest at excitation/emission wavelengths of 360/440 nm. Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy show the CDs to have oxygen functional groups on their surface which strongly improve solubility. The CDs were applied to image cells of the electricity-producing bacteria Shewanellaoneidensis MR-1. An electrochemical approach is introduced to synthesize carbon dots by exfoliating graphite rods in mixed electrolyte of water and ionic liquids. The increasing size of carbon dots was realized by reducing the volume of water in the mixed electrolyte. The carbon dots were used to fluorescently image the electricity-producing bacterium Shewanellaoneidensis MR-1.

We acted as pioneer in preparing size-controlled carbon quantum dots by changing voltage in ionic-liquid-assisted electrolyte.

As an emerging carbon-based material, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have shown unstoppable prospects in the field of bionic electronics with their outstanding optoelectronic properties and unique biocompatible characteristics. In this study, a novel CQD-based memristor is proposed for neuromorphic computing. Unlike the models that rely on the formation and rupturing of conductive filaments, it is speculated that the resistance switching mechanism of CQD-based memristors is due to the conductive path caused by the hybridization state transition of the sp² carbon domain and sp³ carbon domain induced by the reversible electric field. This avoids the drawback of uncontrollable nucleation sites leading to the random formation of conductive filaments in resistive switching. Importantly, it illustrates that the coefficient of variation (C_V) of the threshold voltage can be as low as −1.551% and 0.083%, which confirms the remarkable uniform switching characteristics. Interestingly, the Pavlov's dog reflection as an important biological behavior can be demonstrated by the samples. Finally, the accuracy recognition rate of MNIST handwriting can reach up to 96.7%, which is very close to the ideal number (97.8%). A carbon-based memristor based on a new mechanism presented provides new possibilities for the improvement of brain-like computing.