Researchers have developed a new biochar material derived from marine microalgae that can rapidly and sensitively detect hydrogen peroxide without the need for enzymes. The discovery could support applications ranging from medical diagnostics to environmental monitoring and food safety.

Hydrogen peroxide plays a dual role in modern society. It is widely used in medicine, biotechnology, and industry, but excessive levels can indicate oxidative stress in biological systems and contamination of food and water. Therefore, rapid and accurate detection of hydrogen peroxide remains a major analytical challenge.

In the new study, scientists created nickel-rich biochar by cultivating marine microalgae in a growth medium containing nickel and converting the biomass into carbon through controlled pyrolysis. The resulting material contains uniformly dispersed nickel nanoparticles embedded in a porous carbon structure, which significantly enhances the electrochemical performance.

“We wanted to design a sustainable sensor material using biological resources rather than fossil-based carbon,” said the study’s corresponding author. “Microalgae provide an ideal platform because they can grow rapidly, naturally accumulate metals, and convert them into functional carbon materials.”

The research team demonstrated that the new biochar-coated electrode was able to detect hydrogen peroxide concentrations as low as 0.39 micromoles with a response time of about 2 seconds. The sensor performed well under physiological pH conditions and maintained high recoveries in complex samples such as seawater, milk, and juice.

Unlike many conventional sensors, this system does not rely on enzymes that degrade quickly or require tight environmental controls. Instead, the nickel atoms embedded in the biochar serve as catalytic centers that promote the electrochemical oxidation of hydrogen peroxide. The uniform distribution of these catalytic sites increases sensitivity while maintaining stability over repeated measurements.

“Our results show that concentrating biological metals during growth yields much better catalytic performance than simply mixing metals and carbon later,” the authors say. “This approach opens new avenues for designing functional biochar materials with controlled metal distribution.”

Beyond hydrogen peroxide detection, the researchers suggest that the strategy could also be applied to create other biochar-based sensing materials by incorporating various metals and biological raw materials. Because this process uses naturally grown microalgae and relatively inexpensive metals, it has the potential to be a scalable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional nanomaterial synthesis.

The research team believes this work can contribute to future biosensors for medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and industrial quality control. With further development, such sensors could be integrated into portable analytical devices and smart monitoring systems.

“Our goal is to bridge sustainable materials science and practical sensing technology,” the researchers said. “By combining biology and electrochemistry, we can create new materials that are both high-performance and environmentally friendly.”

This study highlights how renewable biological resources can be transformed into advanced functional materials and suggests a greener approach for next-generation sensor technologies.

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Reference magazines: Gan, H., Tang, Y., Yang, S. Others. Ni-fed’s new biochar Picochlorum euchariotum It can be used as a high-performance enzyme-free electrochemical sensor for hydrogen peroxide. biochar 817 (2026).

https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-025-00529-0

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biochar (e-ISSN: 2524-7867) is the first journal dedicated to biochar research across agriculture, environmental science, and materials science. We publish original research on biochar production, processing, and applications such as bioenergy, environmental remediation, soil improvement, climate mitigation, water treatment, and sustainability analysis. The journal serves as an innovative and professional platform for researchers around the world to share advances in this rapidly expanding field.

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