A portable electrochemical immunosensor for ovarian cancer uses hierarchical microporous carbon material from waste coffee grounds.

A simple label-free electrochemical immunosensor for ovarian cancer (OC) detection was developed using a hierarchical microporous carbon material fabricated from waste coffee grounds (WCG). The analysis method exploited near-field communication (NFC) and a smartphone-based potentiostat. Waste coffee grounds were pyrolyzed with potassium hydroxide and used to modify a screen-printed electrode. The modified screen-printed electrode was decorated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to capture a specific antibody. The modification and immobilization processes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The sensor had an effective dynamic range of 0.5 to 50.0 U mL of cancer antigen 125 (CA125) tumor marker with a correlation coefficient of 0.9995. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.4 U mL. A comparison of the results obtained from human serum analysis with the proposed immunosensor and the results obtained from the clinical method confirmed the accuracy and precision of the proposed immunosensor.