{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T09:28:38Z","timestamp":1778232518060,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,3]],"date-time":"2015-09-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1441238400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A novel dendritic star-copolymer, generation 3 poly(propylene thiophenoimine) (G3PPT)-co-poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) star co-polymer on gold electrode  (i.e., Au|G3PPT-co-P3HT) was used as a sensor system for the determination of phenanthrene (PHE). The G3PPT-co-P3HT star co-polymer was synthesized via in situ electrochemical co-polymerization of generation 3 poly (propylene thiophenoimine) and poly (3-hexylthiophene) on gold electrode. 1HNMR spectroscopy was used to determine the regioregularity of the polymer composites, whereas Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to study their structural and morphological properties. Au|G3PPT-co-P3HT in the absence of PHE, exhibited reversible electrochemistry attributable to the oligo (thiophene) \u2018pendants\u2019 of the dendrimer. PHE produced an increase in the voltammetric signals (anodic currents) due to its oxidation on the dendritic material to produce catalytic current, thereby suggesting the suitability of the Au|G3PPT-co-P3HT electrode as a PHE sensor. The electrocatalysis of PHE was made possible by the rigid and planar oligo-P3HT species (formed upon the oxidation of the oligo (thiophene) pendants of the star-copolymer), which allowed the efficient capture (binding) and detection (electrocatalytic oxidation) of PHE molecules.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s150922343","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,3]],"date-time":"2015-09-03T10:57:07Z","timestamp":1441277827000},"page":"22343-22363","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Electrochemical Interrogation of G3-Poly(propylene thiophenoimine) Dendritic Star Polymer in  Phenanthrene Sensing"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Hlamulo","family":"Makelane","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Sensor Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Oluwakemi","family":"Tovide","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sensor Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christopher","family":"Sunday","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sensor Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tesfaye","family":"Waryo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sensor Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6102-0433","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emmanuel","family":"Iwuoha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sensor Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envint.2013.07.019","article-title":"A Review of Airborne Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) and Their Human Health Effects","volume":"60","author":"Kim","year":"2013","journal-title":"Environ. Int."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"165","article-title":"Measurements of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in an Urban Atmosphere of Agra, India","volume":"23","author":"Rajput","year":"2010","journal-title":"Atmosfera"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S1001-0742(07)60001-1","article-title":"Development of Analytical Methods for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Airborne Particulates: A Review","volume":"19","author":"Liu","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Environ. Sci."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"1","article-title":"Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Drinking Water of Tehran, Iran","volume":"11","author":"Karyab","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Environ. Heal. Sci. Eng."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1016\/j.marenvres.2011.07.004","article-title":"Effect of Environmental Factors on Photodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Water-Soluble Fraction of Kuwait Crude Oil in Seawater","volume":"72","author":"Saeed","year":"2011","journal-title":"Mar. Environ. Res."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"417","DOI":"10.1016\/S0165-9936(99)00111-9","article-title":"Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Natural Waters: Sources, Occurrence and Analysis","volume":"18","author":"Manoli","year":"1999","journal-title":"Trends Anal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aca.2011.11.065","article-title":"Application of Sulfur Microparticles for Solid-Phase Extraction of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Sea Water and Wastewater Samples","volume":"714","author":"Ghanemi","year":"2012","journal-title":"Anal. Chim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4103","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fct.2012.08.011","article-title":"Human Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Using Data from a Duplicate Diet Study in Catalonia, Spain","volume":"50","author":"Martorell","year":"2012","journal-title":"Food Chem. Toxicol."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Udovyk, O., Rabilloud, L., Gilek, M., and Karlsson, M. (2010). S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2013.11.108","article-title":"PM2.5-Bound Oxygenated PAHs, Nitro-PAHs and Parent-PAHs from the Atmosphere of a Chinese Megacity: Seasonal Variation, Sources and Cancer Risk Assessment","volume":"473\/474","author":"Bandowe","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chroma.2005.10.013","article-title":"Determination of Sixteen Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Aqueous and Solid Samples from an Italian Wastewater Treatment Plant","volume":"1102","author":"Busetti","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Chromatogr. A"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1357","DOI":"10.1016\/j.talanta.2007.01.043","article-title":"Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Particulate Matter Collected with Low Volume Samplers","volume":"72","author":"Bruno","year":"2007","journal-title":"Talanta"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms10010062","article-title":"An Overview of Conventional and Emerging Analytical Methods for the Determination of Mycotoxins","volume":"10","author":"Prosen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Mol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9449","DOI":"10.3390\/s101009449","article-title":"Determination of Anthracene on Ag-Au Alloy Nanoparticles\/Overoxidized-Polypyrrole Composite Modified Glassy Carbon Electrodes","volume":"10","author":"Mailu","year":"2010","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.1016\/j.electacta.2013.12.134","article-title":"Graphenated Polyaniline-Doped Tungsten Oxide Nanocomposite Sensor for Real Time Determination of Phenanthrene","volume":"128","author":"Tovide","year":"2014","journal-title":"Electrochim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1016\/S0956-5663(02)00112-4","article-title":"Disposable Amperometric Immunosensor for the Detection of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Using Screen-Printed Electrodes","volume":"18","author":"Pravda","year":"2003","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1949","DOI":"10.1016\/S1452-3981(23)18158-2","article-title":"Dendritic 7T-Polythiophene Electro-Catalytic Sensor System for the Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons","volume":"6","author":"Rassie","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Electrochem. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"1","article-title":"Composite Polyester Membranes with Embedded Dendrimer Hosts and Bimetallic Fe\/Ni Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterisation and Application to Water Treatment","volume":"1698","author":"Malinga","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Nanopart. Res."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.1016\/S0079-6700(00)00011-3","article-title":"Functional dendrimers, hyperbranched and star polymers","volume":"25","author":"Inoue","year":"2000","journal-title":"Prog. Polym. Sci."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1016\/j.polymer.2007.10.021","article-title":"Poly(amidoamine), Polypropylenimine, and Related Dendrimers and Dendrons Possessing Different 1\u21922 Branching Motifs: An Overview of the Divergent Procedures","volume":"49","author":"Newkome","year":"2008","journal-title":"Polymer"},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"11","article-title":"The Application of Dentritic Material in Textile","volume":"7","author":"Akbari","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sci. Bull. Escorena"},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"26","article-title":"Dendrimers\u2014An Auxilliary in Dyeing","volume":"74","author":"Maiti","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Text. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15763","DOI":"10.1021\/jp062899y","article-title":"Controlled One-Dimensional Nanostructures in Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Thin Film for High-Performance Organic Field-Effect Transistors","volume":"110","author":"Kim","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Phys. Chem. B"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3312","DOI":"10.1021\/ma047415f","article-title":"The Dependence of Regioregular Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Film Morphology and Field-Effect Mobility on Molecular Weight","volume":"38","author":"Kline","year":"2005","journal-title":"Macromolecules"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2012.08.023","article-title":"Effect of Common Metal Ions on the Rate of Degradation of 4-Nitrophenol by a Laccase-Cu2+ Synergistic System","volume":"113","author":"Lu","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kitanidis, P.K., and McCarty, P.L. (2012). Delivery and Mixing in the Subsurface, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4614-2239-6"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1686","DOI":"10.1016\/S1452-3981(23)15103-0","article-title":"Spectroelectrochemical Dynamics of Dendritic Poly(propylene imine)-Polythiophene Star Copolymer Aptameric 17 \u03b2 -Estradiol Biosensor","volume":"6","author":"Olowu","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Electrochem. Sci."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5682","DOI":"10.1021\/cm049279z","article-title":"Titania-Supported Au and Pd Composites Synthesized from Dendrimer-Encapsulated Metal Nanoparticle Precursors","volume":"16","author":"Scott","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Chem. Mater."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.5012\/bkcs.2010.31.01.193","article-title":"A Practical Approach for the Preparation of Regioregular Poly(3-hexylthiophene)","volume":"31","author":"Kim","year":"2010","journal-title":"Bull. Korean Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2965","DOI":"10.1016\/S1452-3981(23)13928-9","article-title":"Abrasive Stripping Voltammetric (abrsv) Studies of ErBa2Cu3O7\u2212\u03b4 Superconductor Synthesised Via Co-Precipitation And Solid State Methods","volume":"7","author":"Nazarudin","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int. J. Electrochem. Sci."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5000","DOI":"10.1016\/S1452-3981(23)19598-8","article-title":"Electrochemical Sensing of Phenicol Antibiotics at Gold","volume":"7","author":"Pilehvar","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int. J. Electrochem. Sci."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"899","DOI":"10.1016\/S0013-4686(01)00790-3","article-title":"Potential Scan Rate Dependence of Underpotential and Bulk Depositions of Lead on Screen-Printed Silver Electrodes","volume":"47","author":"Zen","year":"2001","journal-title":"Electrochim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-0728(79)80227-2","article-title":"Preliminary Determinations of Electron Transfer Kinetics Involving Ferrocene Covalently Attached to a Platinum Surface","volume":"95","author":"Sharp","year":"1979","journal-title":"J. Electroanal. Chem. Interfacial Electrochem."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16076","DOI":"10.1021\/jp405142k","article-title":"On the Electrochemical Response of Porous Functionalized Graphene Electrodes","volume":"117","author":"Punckt","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Phys. Chem. C"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4634","DOI":"10.1021\/ja00222a023","article-title":"The Charge Alternation Concept. Application to Cyclic Conjugated Doubly Charged Systems","volume":"110","author":"Cohen","year":"1988","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"711","DOI":"10.1016\/S1452-3981(23)15474-5","article-title":"Electrochemical Studies of Buzepide Methiodide and Their Analytical Applications","volume":"3","author":"Kalanur","year":"2008","journal-title":"Int. J. Electrochem. Sci."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1769","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ccr.2009.12.023","article-title":"Electrochemistry of Redox-Active Self-Assembled Monolayers","volume":"254","author":"Eckermann","year":"2010","journal-title":"Coord. Chem. Rev."},{"key":"ref_38","first-page":"241","article-title":"Electrochemical Reduction of Europium (3+) at Increasing Concentrations of Different Salts. Part I. Voltammetric Measurements","volume":"76","author":"Zeli","year":"2003","journal-title":"Croat. Chem. Acta"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2014\/103462","article-title":"Direct Synthesis and Morphological Characterization of Gold-Dendrimer Nanocomposites Prepared Using PAMAM Succinamic Acid Dendrimers: Preliminary Study of the Calcification Potential","volume":"2014","author":"Vasile","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sci. World J."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"947","DOI":"10.1002\/marc.200900712","article-title":"Advances in the Elegance of Chemistry in Designing Dendrimers","volume":"31","author":"Hourani","year":"2010","journal-title":"Macromol. Rapid Commun."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1016\/j.electacta.2012.02.071","article-title":"Simultaneous Determination of Paracetamol and Penicillin V By Square-Wave Voltammetry at a Bare Boron-Doped Diamond Electrode","volume":"68","author":"Sochr","year":"2012","journal-title":"Electrochim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_42","first-page":"1","article-title":"Reversible Phenol Oxidation-Reduction in the Structurally Well-Defined 2-Mercaptophenol-\u03b13C Protein","volume":"52","author":"Tommos","year":"2014","journal-title":"Biochemistry"},{"key":"ref_43","first-page":"1","article-title":"Theory of Square-Wave Voltammetry of Two-Step Electrode Reaction Using an Inverse Scan Direction","volume":"2011","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Electrochem."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"351","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jelechem.2003.11.046","article-title":"Square-Wave Thin-Film Voltammetry: Influence of Uncompensated Resistance and Charge Transfer Kinetics","volume":"566","author":"Gulaboski","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Electroanal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3181","DOI":"10.1038\/srep03181","article-title":"Dendrimer-Mediated Hydrothermal Synthesis of Ultrathin Gold Nanowires","volume":"3","author":"Liu","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"746","DOI":"10.1021\/cr068112h","article-title":"Composites of Intrinsically Conducting Polymers as Sensing Nanomaterials","volume":"108","author":"Hatchett","year":"2008","journal-title":"Chem. Rev."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2012\/620309","article-title":"Functional Conducting Polymers in the Application of SPR Biosensors","volume":"2012","author":"Janmanee","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1997","DOI":"10.1002\/jcc.23031","article-title":"Dendrimer Building Toolkit: Model Building and Characterization of Various Dendrimer Architectures","volume":"33","author":"Maingi","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Comput. Chem."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"278","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph6010278","article-title":"Bacterial Degradation of Aromatic Compounds","volume":"6","author":"Seo","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"267","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ymeth.2013.07.041","article-title":"Electrochemical Techniques for Characterization of Stem-Loop Probe and Linear Probe-Based DNA Sensors","volume":"64","author":"Lai","year":"2013","journal-title":"Methods"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aca.2013.12.005","article-title":"Characterization of an Electrochemical Mercury Sensor Using Alternating Current, Cyclic, Square Wave and Differential Pulse Voltammetry","volume":"810","author":"Guerreiro","year":"2014","journal-title":"Anal. Chim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"308","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2007.04.102","article-title":"Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water, Sediment and Soil in Drinking Water Resource of Zhejiang Province, China","volume":"150","author":"Zhu","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_53","first-page":"21","article-title":"Occurrence of PAHs and PCBs in Petrochemical Wastewater","volume":"22","author":"Dobrinas","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ovidius Univ. Ann. Chem."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"306","DOI":"10.1016\/S0025-326X(96)00096-3","article-title":"Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) in Seawater around England and Wales","volume":"34","author":"Law","year":"1997","journal-title":"Mar. Pollut. Bull."},{"key":"ref_55","first-page":"2137","article-title":"Time-Integrated Monitoring of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Groundwater Using the Ceramic Dosimeter Passive Sampling Device","volume":"107","author":"Bopp","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Chromatogr. A."},{"key":"ref_56","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2004). WHO Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality, WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. [3rd]."},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"997","DOI":"10.1021\/ac50029a042","article-title":"Determination of Solubility Behavior of Some Polycyclic Aromatic-Hydrocarbons in Water","volume":"50","author":"May","year":"1978","journal-title":"Anal. Chem."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/15\/9\/22343\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T20:47:59Z","timestamp":1760215679000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/15\/9\/22343"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,3]]},"references-count":57,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,9]]}},"alternative-id":["s150922343"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s150922343","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,3]]}}}