Living and Conducting: Coating Individual Bacterial Cells with In†Situ Formed Polypyrrole.

Coating individual bacterial cells with conjugated polymers to endow them with more functionalities is highly desirable. Here, we developed an in situ polymerization method to coat polypyrrole on the surface of individual Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, Escherichia coli, Ochrobacterium anthropic or Streptococcus thermophilus. All of these as-coated cells from different bacterial species displayed enhanced conductivities without affecting viability, suggesting the generality of our coating method. Because of their excellent conductivity, we employed polypyrrole-coated Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 as an anode in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and found that not only direct contact-based extracellular electron transfer is dramatically enhanced, but also the viability of bacterial cells in MFCs is improved. Our results indicate that coating individual bacteria with conjugated polymers could be a promising strategy to enhance their performance or enrich them with more functionalities.

Supersensitive and selective detection of picric acid explosive by fluorescent Ag nanoclusters.

Picric acid (PA) explosive is a hazard to public safety and health, so the sensitive and selective detection of PA is very important. In the present work, polyethyleneimine stabilized Ag nanoclusters were successfully used for the sensitive and selective quantification of PA on the basis of fluorescence quenching. The quenching efficiency of Ag nanoclusters is proportional to the concentration of PA and the logarithm of PA concentration over two different concentration ranges (1.0 nM-1 µM for the former and 0.25-20 µM for the latter), thus the proposed quantitative strategy for PA provides a wide linear range of 1.0 nM-20 µM. The detection limit based on 3σ/K is 0.1 nM. The quenching mechanism of Ag nanoclusters by PA is discussed in detail. The results indicate that the selective detection of PA over other nitroaromatics including 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), p-nitrotoluene (p-NT), m-dinitrobenzene (m-DNB), and nitrobenzene (NB), is due to the electron transfer and energy transfer between PA and polyethyleneimine-capped Ag nanoclusters. In addition, the experimental data obtained for the analysis of artificial samples show that the proposed PA sensor is potentially applicable in the determination of trace PA explosive in real samples.

Ultrasensitive immunoassay based on dual signal amplification of the electrically heated carbon electrode and quantum dots functionalized labels for the detection of matrix metalloproteinase-9.

A dual signal amplification strategy was designed for electrochemical detection of matrix metalloproteinase-9 with the integration of electrically heated carbon electrode technique and quantum dots labels.

Electrochemical immunosensor for simultaneous detection of dual cardiac markers based on a poly(dimethylsiloxane)-gold nanoparticles composite microfluidic chip: a proof of principle.

BACKGROUND: The emergence of microfluidic immunosensors has provided a promising tool for improving clinical diagnoses. We developed an electrochemical immunoassay for the simultaneous detection of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and C-reactive protein (CRP), based on microfluidic chips. METHODS: The quantitative methodology was based on ELISA in poly(dimethylsiloxane)-gold nanoparticle composite microreactors. CdTe and ZnSe quantum dots were bioconjugated with antibodies for sandwich immunoassay. After the CdTe and ZnSe quantum dots were dissolved, Cd(2+) and Zn(2+) were detected by square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry to enable the quantification of the 2 biomarkers. The 2 biomarkers were measured in 20 human serum samples by using the proposed method and commercially available methods. RESULTS: This immunosensor allowed simultaneous detection of serum cTnI and CRP. The linear range of this assay was between 0.01 and 50 µg/L and 0.5 and 200 µg/L, with the detection limits of approximately 5 amol and approximately 307 amol in 30-µL samples corresponding to cTnI and CRP, respectively. Slopes close to 1 and the correlation coefficient over 0.99 were obtained for both analytes. CONCLUSIONS: This strategy demonstrates a proof of principle for the successful integration of microfluidics with electrochemistry that can potentially provide an alternative to protein detection in the clinical laboratory.

Preparation and bioapplication of high-quality, water-soluble, biocompatible, and near-infrared-emitting CdSeTe alloyed quantum dots.

A facile method is developed for the preparation of high-quality, water-soluble, and near-infrared (NIR)-emitting CdSeTe alloyed quantum dots (AQdots) with L-cysteine as the capping agent. By changing the size and the composition of AQdots the photoluminescent quantum yield (QY) can reach as high as 53% and the emission color can be tuned between visible and NIR regions (580-814 nm). Furthermore, the prepared NIR-emitting AQdots have been successfully applied for HL-60 cell imaging and glucose and cholesterol assay, which demonstrates the great potential of the AQdots for biological applications.

Low electroosmotic flow measurement by tilting microchip.

A novel method for low electroosmotic flow (EOF) rates measurement by tilting microchip which based upon the hydrostatic pressure conception and sampling zone method is described. Sampling zone could be detected in the tilting microchip but not in non-tilting one due to the hydrostatic pressure driven. The method is fulfilled to calculate low EOF rates by detecting the liquid flow velocity driven by hydrostatic pressure, and difference between the apparent mobility of the migrating analyte in two modes is caused by the effect of hydrostatic pressure. And then the EOF rates in unknown low EOF microchip can be calculated. Different microchannels modified with bovine serum albumin (BSA), myoglobin (MB) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were used to verify the method, the EOF rate value was 1.73+/-0.03, 1.21+/-0.05, 0.34+/-0.04 x 10(-4)cm(2) V(-1)s(-1), respectively. The results obtained by the proposed method were agreed well with conventional methods.

Measurement of electroosmotic flow in capillary and microchip electrophoresis.

Microfluidics is the science and technology of systems that process or manipulate small amounts of fluids, using channels with dimensions of tens of micrometers. Electroosmotic flow (EOF) is an important characteristic of fluids in microchannels. In this paper, EOF generation, effects on separation and definition of EOF are introduced. And EOF measurement methods on capillary electrophoresis (CE) and microchip CE are systematically reviewed based on detection principle, hallmarks of EOF measurement methods are presented, the devices and signals are also schematically described. This paper offers researchers a guidance to obtain an estimate of EOF mobility in capillary and microchip electrophoresis.

Modification of poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic channels with silica nanoparticles based on layer-by-layer assembly technique.

A hydrophilic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microchip with stable electroosmotic flow (EOF) was prepared by a simple and reproducible coating procedure with silica nanoparticles. The microchannel wall of PDMS chip was coated with a layer of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) and then collected silica nanoparticles. The assembly was followed by contact angle, charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging, electroosmotic flow (EOF) measurements and electrophoretic separation experiments. Contact angle measurements revealed the coated surface was hydrophilic; the water contact angle for coated chips was 64 degrees compared with a water contact angle for native PDMS chips of 113 degrees . CCD images indicated a substantially more hydrophilic microchannel than native PDMS. We carried out a comparison and concluded that the EOF values on the coated PDMS chip were close to those values on the glass chip above pH 7.0. The coated channel had an excellent stability and reproducibility, RSD of EOF values (n=6) on native and coated PDMS microchip was 1.58 and 0.57%, respectively. Separation of dopamine and epinephrine was performed on the coated chip generated 1.40 x 10(5), 1.39 x 10(5) theoretical plates/m compared with the native PDMS chip of 0.79 x 10(5), 0.88 x 10(5), high resolution of 1.7 was achieved with a channel of 3.60 cm length.

An"ON-OFF" switchable power output of enzymatic biofuel cell controlled by thermal-sensitive polymer.

A novel "ON-OFF" switchable enzymatic biofuel cell (EBFC), controlled by in situ thermal-stimuli signal, has been consciously designed. Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) chains were used to act as "ON" and "OFF" channels. Consecutively switching of temperature below and above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), the reversible conformation changing of the PNIPAm chains between superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity was achieved, which constructed the "ON" and "OFF" channel for the transfer of the electrochemical probe to the underlying electrode correspondingly. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) protected glucose oxidase and laccase were successfully entrapped into the intelligent thermal-sensitive PNIPAm chains, and performed as the catalysts for the oxidation of glucose and the reduction of O2, respectively. Below the LCST, the fuels and the mediator could access to the catalytic centers of enzymes (set as "ON" state); while above the LCST, the reaction was impeded because the process of reactant transmission was blocked (set as "OFF" state). By switching the "valve" of mass transfer, the fabricated EBFC displayed the obvious "ON-OFF" controllable behavior. At the "ON" state, the open circuit voltage (Ecell(ocv)) and maximal power output density (Pmax) could reach to 0.70 V and 20.52 µW cm(-2), respectively; while at the "OFF" state, the Ecell(ocv) and Pmax were only 0.30 V and 3.28 µW cm(-2) correspondingly. The switchable process was repeatable, and the response time was only several minutes.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical aptasensing platform based on exciton energy transfer between CdSeTe alloyed quantum dots and SiO2@Au nanocomposites.

High-efficient exciton energy transfer between CdSeTe alloyed quantum dots and SiO2@Au nanocomposites was applied to develop an enhanced photoelectrochemical aptasensing platform with ultrahigh sensitivity, good selectivity, reproducibility and stability.

Polyethylenimine-capped silver nanoclusters as a fluorescence probe for highly sensitive detection of folic acid through a two-step electron-transfer process.

A highly sensitive folic acid (FA) detection method based on the fluorescence quenching of polyethylenimine-capped silver nanoclusters (PEI-AgNCs) was put forward. In the sensing system, FA and PEI-AgNCs were brought into close proximity to each other by electrostatic interaction, and a two-step electron-transfer process, in which the electron was transferred from FA to AgNCs through PEI molecule, led to fluorescence quenching. The fluorescence quenching efficiency of PEI-AgNCs was linearly related to the concentration of FA over the range from 0.1 nM to 2.75 µM. Good linear correlation (R(2) = 0.9981) and a detection limit of 0.032 nM were obtained under optimum conditions. Moreover, the proposed method was used for the determination of FA in real samples with satisfactory results, and those coexistent substances could not cause any significant decrease in the fluorescence intensity of AgNCs. Therefore, the proposed research system is of practical significance and application prospects.

Ultrasensitive Cu2+ sensing by near-infrared-emitting CdSeTe alloyed quantum dots.

The near-infrared (NIR)-emitting CdSeTe alloyed quantum dots (AQdots) that capped with L-cysteine were applied for ultrasensitive Cu(2+) sensing. The sensing approach was based on the fluorescence of the AQdots selectively quenched in the presence of Cu(2+). Experimental results showed a low interference response towards other metal ions. The possible quenching mechanism was discussed on the basis of the binding between L-cysteine and the metal ions. In addition, biomolecules have low effect on the fluorescence due to the minimized interferences in NIR region. The response of the NIR optical sensor was linearly proportional to the concentration of Cu(2+) ranging from 2 x 10(-8) to 2 x 10(-6) mol L(-1). Furthermore, it has been successfully applied to the detection of Cu(2+) in vegetable samples.

Direct electrochemistry and electrocatalysis of myoglobin based on silica-coated gold nanorods/room temperature ionic liquid/silica sol-gel composite film.

A novel biosensor based on the silica-coated gold nanorods (GNRs@SiO(2)) and hydrophilic room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluroborate ([bmim][BF(4)]) was fabricated for the determination of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and nitrite. GNRs@SiO(2) can not only act as a binder to hinder [bmim][BF(4)] (RTIL) leaking from the electrode surface, but also provide a favorable microenvironment for direct electrochemistry of myoglobin (Mb). A pair of well-defined and quasi-reversible redox peaks of Mb was obtained at the GNRs@SiO(2)-Mb/RTIL-sol-gel composite film modified GCE (GNRs@SiO(2)-Mb/RTIL-sol-gel/GCE) through direct electron transfer between Mb and the underlying electrode. This biosensor showed an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards hydrogen peroxide and nitrite. The linear range for the determination of H(2)O(2) was from 0.2 to 180 microM with a detection limit of 0.12 microM based on the signal-to-noise ratio of 3. In addition, the biosensor also exhibited high selectivity, good reproducibility, and long-term stability. Therefore, this kind of composite film can provide an ideal matrix for protein immobilization and biosensor fabrication.