Development of a photoelectrochemical blood lactate sensor for athletes

Herein, a sensitive and selective photoelectrochemical sensor for the rapid detection of lactate (LA) in athlete blood samples is reported. This sensor was prepared based on titanium dioxide@bismuth vanadate (TiO 2 @BiVO 4 ) photo-composite that, was prepared by the hydrothermal method and placed as a layer on the ITO surface. Photoanode characterization has been investigated with UV-Vis spectroscopy, XPS, XRD and SEM characterization techniques. The chronoamperometric results of TiO 2 @BiVO 4 /ITO showed that due to the synergistic effect of TiO 2 and BiVO 4 , charge separation and light absorption at the electrode surface were increased. The optimized TiO 2 @BiVO 4 /ITO electrode offers high responses to LA with a low detection limit (1.2 nM) and a wide linear response range (10 nM-90 µM). The sensor's performance has been investigated by measuring LA in the blood of athletes at different times during training and showed acceptable results with high recovery from 94.1 % to 101.4 %. The TiO 2 @BiVO 4 sensor presents a selective and stable methodology to monitor LA levels and is a promising tool for optimizing training regimens and evaluating physiological responses in athletes. The development of this photoelectrochemical LA sensor is a significant step towards advanced and portable diagnosis in sports science.