Piezoelectric microelectromechanical resonant sensors for chemical and biological detection

Piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonant sensors, known for their excellent mass resolution, have been studied for many applications, including DNA hybridization, protein-ligand interactions, and immunosensor development. They have also been explored for detecting antigens, organic gas, toxic ions, and explosives. Most piezoelectric MEMS resonant sensors are acoustic sensors (with specific coating layers) that enable selective and label-free detection of biological events in real time. These label-free technologies have recently garnered significant attention for their sensitive and quantitative multi-parameter analysis of biological systems. Since piezoelectric MEMS resonant sensors do more than transform analyte mass or thickness into an electrical signal (e.g., frequency and impedance), special attention must be paid to their potential beyond microweighing, such as measuring elastic and viscous properties, and several types of sensors currently under development operate at different resonant modes (i.e., thickness extensional mode, thickness shear mode, lateral extensional mode, flexural mode, etc.). In this review, we provide an overview of recent developments in micromachined resonant sensors and activities relating to biochemical interfaces for acoustic sensors.     

Recent progress in detection of chemical and biological toxins in Water using plasmonic nanosensors

The supply of safe drinking water is one of the prominent challenges of the world. Water is polluted mainly by chemical and biological toxins which can causes a serious threat to ecosystems and human health. Regular monitoring of chemical and biological toxins in water sources is the primary step in any preventive method. Traditional detection methods include adsorption and chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The devices based on these techniques are not easy to be carried for on-site detection and require laborious sample preparation protocols. However, advancements in nanomaterial-based sensors have provided solutions to these challenges. Recent developments in plasmonic sensors lead to extraordinary advancements in the area of ultra-sensitive detection at the single particle or molecular level. Noble metal nanoparticles of gold (Au) and silver (Ag) exhibit excellent plasmonic properties and have been applied for the selective and label-free detection of very low concentrations of aquatic pollutants. The present review represent the progress made towards the development and application of plasmonic nanosensors, specifically gold and silver nanoparticle-based sensors for the detection and quantification of various pollutants and contaminations in water. The design and fabrication of plasmonic nanosensors were given emphasis as it is fundamental in enhancing their affinity towards specific pollutant of interest. The effectiveness of plasmonic sensors in reducing the use of expensive instruments while enabling on-site multifunctional detection of toxin contaminants and also the future potential of plasmonic sensors will be highlighted.     

Carbohydrate–protein interactions and their biosensing applications

Carbohydrate recognition is clearly present throughout nature, playing a major role in the initial attachment of one biological entity to another. The important question is whether these prevalent interactions could provide a real suitable alternative to the use of antibodies or nucleic acid for detection and identification. Currently, examples of carbohydrates being employed in biological detection systems are limited. The challenges of using carbohydrate recognition for detection mainly come from the weak affinity of carbohydrate–protein interactions, the lack of versatile carbohydrate scaffolds with well-defined structures, and the less developed high-information-content, real-time, and label-free assay technology. In this review, we focus on discussing the characteristics of carbohydrate–protein interactions in nature and the methods for carbohydrate immobilization based on surface coupling chemistry in terms of their general applicability for developing carbohydrate- and lectin-based label-free sensors. Furthermore, examples of innovative design of multivalent carbohydrate–protein interactions for sensor applications are given. We limit our review to show the feasibility of carbohydrate and lectin as recognition elements for label-free sensor development in several representative cases to formulate a flexible platform for their use as recognition elements for real-world biosensor applications.     

Electronic aptamer-based sensors

The selection of aptamers-nucleic acids that specifically bind low-molecular-weight substrates or proteins-by the SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) procedure has attracted recent efforts directed to the development of new specific recognition units. In particular, extensive activities have been directed to the application of aptamers as versatile materials for the design of biosensors. The Minireview summarizes the recent accomplishments in developing electronic aptamer-based sensors (aptasensors), which include electrochemical, field-effect transistor, and microgravimetric quartz crystal microbalance sensors, and describes methods to develop amplified aptasensor devices and label-free aptasensors.     

Distance versus Capillary Flow Dynamics-Based Detection Methods on a Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Device (μPAD)

In recent years, there has been high interest in paper-based microfluidic sensors or microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) towards low-cost, portable, and easy-to-use sensing for chemical and biological targets. μPAD allows spontaneous liquid flow without any external or internal pumping, as well as an innate filtration capability. Although both optical (colorimetric and fluorescent) and electrochemical detection have been demonstrated on μPADs, several limitations still remain, such as the need for additional equipment, vulnerability to ambient lighting perturbation, and inferior sensitivity. Herein, alternative detection methods on μPADs are reviewed to resolve these issues, including relatively well studied distance-based measurements and the newer capillary flow dynamics-based method. Detection principles, assay performance, strengths, and weaknesses are explained for these methods, along with their potential future applications towards point-of-care medical diagnostics and other field-based applications.     

Conjugated polyelectrolyte amplified fluorescent assays with probe functionalized silica nanoparticles for chemical and biological sensing

Low-cost sensors with high sensitivity and selectivity for chemical and biological detection are of high scientific and economic importance. Silica nanoparticles (NPs) have shown vast promise in sensor applications by virtue of their controllable surface modification, good chemical stability, and biocompatibility. This mini-review summarizes our recent development of silica NP-based assays for chemical and biological detection, where silica NPs serve as the substrate for probe immobilization, target recognition, and separation. The assay performance is further improved through the introduction of conjugated polyelectrolyte to amplify the detection signal. The assays have been demonstrated to be successful for the detection of DNA, small molecules, and proteins. They could be generalized for other targets based on specific interactions, such as DNA hybridization, antibody-antigen recognition, and target-aptamer binding.     

Electrochemical Aptasensors for Biological and Chemical Analyte Detection

Aptamers are short length, single-stranded DNA or RNA affinity molecules which interact with any desired targets such as biomarkers, cells, biological molecules, drugs or chemicals with high sensitivity. They have been extensively employed for medical applications due to having more advantages than the antibodies such as easier preparation and modification, higher stability, lower batch-to-batch variability and cost. Moreover, aptamers can be easily integrated efficiently with sensors, biosensors, actuators and other devices. In this review article, different applications of aptamers for biological and chemical molecules detection within the scope of electrochemical methods were presented with recent studies. In addition, the present status and future perspectives for highly-effective aptasensors for specific and selective analyte detection were discussed. As in stated throughout the review, combining of extraordinary properties of aptamers with the electrochemical-based biosensors could have improved the sensitivity of the assay and reduced limit of detection.     

Back to basics: label-free technologies for small molecule screening

Small molecule high-throughput screening in drug discovery today is dominated by techniques which are dependent upon artificial labels or reporter systems. While effective, these approaches can be affected by certain experimental limitations, such as conformational restrictions imposed by the selected label or compound fluorescence/quenching. Label-free approaches potentially address many of these issues by allowing researchers to investigate more native systems without fluorescence- or luminescence-based readouts. However, due to throughput and expense constraints, label-free methods have been largely relegated to a supporting role as the basis of secondary assays. In this review, we describe recent improvements in impedance-based, optical biosensor-based, automated patch clamp and mass spectrometry technologies that have enhanced their ease of use and throughput and, hence, their utility for primary screening of small- to medium-sized compound libraries. The ultimate maturation of these techniques will enable drug discovery researchers to screen large chemical libraries against minimally manipulated biological systems.     

Towards a fast-responding,label-free electrochemical DNA biosensor

DNA sensors and sensor arrays (biochips) have become an important tool in molecular biology and biotechnology in recent years. For low-throughput, easy-to-use devices it is desirable that they be of low cost, reagentless, and label-free. Displacement sensors with electrochemical detection offer these advantages, and therefore the development of such a detection principle is show in this work. An HRP-labeled oligonucleotide was sub-optimally pre-hybridized with a capture probe and was displaced upon introduction of the fully complementary probe target, producing a decrease in signal that was proportional to the sample concentration. This detection scheme has been demonstrated colorimetrically and electrochemically, obtaining a total signal displacement of 55% only 5 min after introduction of the sample.     

RNA aptamer-based optical nanostructured sensor for highly sensitive and label-free detection of antigen–antibody reactions

Developments of optical protein sensors with nanostructure based on the noble metals have currently received great attention for their high efficiency and simultaneous analysis of various important biomolecules from proteomics to genetics. In this study, we exploited the absorbance spectra of gold-capped nanoparticles substrate for label-free detections of antigen–antibody reactions using a specific thiolated RNA aptamer. These synthesized RNA aptamers have been optimized to bind to the Fc portion of the human IgG1 subclass, due to their ability to orient antibodies direction on the gold surface. After attaching the anti-fibrinogen antibodies on the surface via these linkers, our thiolated RNA aptamer-based nanostructured sensors were easily applicable to specific detections of fibrinogen with a limit of detection of 0.1 ng/mL. These nanostructured sensor-based models will open a way to display numerous immunosensors as well as to develop other functionally similar sensors which could then be expanded into multi-arrays assay systems.     

Sensing at Your Fingertips: Glove‐based Wearable Chemical Sensors

In this review, we detail the evolution and recent progress of glove‐based wearable electrochemical sensors with focus on forensic, security, and defense applications. Glove‐based wearable sensors offer the ability to have rapid, on‐site chemical and biological threat assessment, ranging from explosive and gunshot residues to drugs of abuse and pesticides, critical for timely and informed incident management and investigation. Additionally, these field deployable systems offer the ability for law enforcement to complete on‐the‐spot qualitative chemical testing for immediate forensic evidence collection in connection to mechanical ‘swipe’ sampling. Recent advances have been made for translation of this class of wearable electrochemical sensors to increase the sensory perspective of robotics, demonstrating the progression to robotic skin with chemical analysis capability suitable for translation to remote chemical analysis in hazardous scenarios. Critical to such progress have been advances in flexible electrochemically‐compatible materials and design, with increasing functionality, leveraging from advances in wearable biosensors and electronic miniaturization. Indeed, the customization potential of these wearable systems is great, yet challenges remain for advancing these systems from prototypes to more ubiquitous devices readily deployed in the field. With significant attention these challenges can be overcome, creating new opportunities for further decentralization of electrochemical analyses using these flexible and intuitive glove‐based wearable sensing systems for significant impact on fields such as forensics, defense, biomedical, robotics and beyond.     

Miniaturized electrochemical sensors and their point-of-care applications

Most of the current analytical methods depend largely on laboratory-based analytical techniques that require expensive and bullky equipment,potentially incur costly testing,and involve lengthy detection processes.With increasing requirements for point-of-care testing(POCT),more attention has been paid to miniaturized analytical devices.Miniaturized electrochemical(MEC)sensors,including different material-based MEC sensors(such as DNA-,paper-,and screen electrode-based),have been in strong demand in analytical science due to their easy operation,portability,high sensitivity,as well as their short analysis time.They have been applied for the detection of trace amounts of target through measuring changes in electrochemical signal,such as current,voltage,potential,or impedance,due to the oxidation/reduction of chemical/biological molecules with the help of electrodes and electrochemical units.MEC sensors present great potential for the detection of targets including small organic molecules,metal ions,and biomolecules.In recent years,MEC sensors have been broadly applied to POCT in various fields,including health care,food safety,and environmental monitoring,owing to the excellent advantages of electrochemical(EC)technologies.This review summarized the state-of-the-art advancements on various types of MEC sensors and their applications in POCT.Furthermore,the future perspectives,opportunities,and challenges in this field are also discussed.     

High effective sensors based on photonic crystals

Photonic crystals have been extensively studied as high effective sensors for environmental monitoring and chemical and biological detections. This paper reviews recent achievements on photonic crystal sensors. Especially, the band gap responsiveness and the ability in amplifying spontaneous emission are demonstrated in the reported photonic crystal monitors/sensors. They are of great importance for optical monitors/sensors visualized by the naked eye and sensors based on fluorescence applications. The photonic crystal sensors are promising for low-cost and high effective sensors and detection methods, although challenges still exist in practical applications.     

Nanoparticle-based electrochemical detection in conventional and miniaturized systems and their bioanalytical applications: a review

With recent advances in nanotechnology making more easily available the novel chemical and physical properties of metal nanoparticles (NPs), these have become extremely suitable for creating new sensing assays. Many kinds of NPs, including metal, metal-oxide, semiconductor and even composite-metal NPs, have been used for constructing electrochemical sensors. This article reviews the progress of NP-based electrochemical detection in recent applications, especially in bioanalysis, and summarizes the main functions of NPs in conventional and miniaturized systems. All references cited here generally show one or more of the following characteristics: a low detection limit, good signal amplification and simultaneous-detection capabilities.     

Highly sensitive and selective colorimetric sensors for uranyl (UO2(2+)): development and comparison of labeled and label-free DNAzyme-gold nanoparticle systems

Colorimetric uranium sensors based on uranyl (UO2(2+)) specific DNAzyme and gold nanoparticles (AuNP) have been developed and demonstrated using both labeled and label-free methods. In the labeled method, a uranyl-specific DNAzyme was attached to AuNP, forming purple aggregates. The presence of uranyl induced disassembly of the DNAzyme functionalized AuNP aggregates, resulting in red individual AuNPs. Once assembled, such a "turn-on" sensor is highly stable, works in a single step at room temperature, and has a detection limit of 50 nM after 30 min of reaction time. The label-free method, on the other hand, utilizes the different adsorption properties of single-stranded and double-stranded DNA on AuNPs, which affects the stability of AuNPs in the presence of NaCl. The presence of uranyl resulted in cleavage of substrate by DNAzyme, releasing a single stranded DNA that can be adsorbed on AuNPs and protect them from aggregation. Taking advantage of this phenomenon, a "turn-off" sensor was developed, which is easy to control through reaction quenching and has 1 nM detection limit after 6 min of reaction at room temperature. Both sensors have excellent selectivity over other metal ions and have detection limits below the maximum contamination level of 130 nM for UO2(2+) in drinking water defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This study represents the first direct systematic comparison of these two types of sensor methods using the same DNAzyme and AuNPs, making it possible to reveal advantages, disadvantages, versatility, limitations, and potential applications of each method. The results obtained not only allow practical sensing application for uranyl but also serve as a guide for choosing different methods for designing colorimetric sensors for other targets.     

Versatile Metalloporphyrin-Based Electrochemical Sensing Applications: From Small Gasotransmitters to Macromolecules

At the beginning of his youthful sixth decade, this work is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Fabio Doctorovich. He is distinctive in organometallic chemistry. During his successful career, he has been studying the reactivity and application of metalloporphyrins. Metalloporphyrins are organometallic complexes that exhibit, through synthetic modifications, the ability to tune their optical and electrochemical properties and their selectivity towards a particular molecule or ion. For this reason, they are systems extremely useful as electrochemical sensors to detect and quantify a wide variety of analytes with high selectivity, even in real samples such as food, water, biological fluids, or pharmaceutical compounds. This review presents an up-to-date list of reports in which metalloporphyrins are used as electrochemical sensors. In addition to compiling a comprehensive and up-to-date list of reported sensors that utilize metalloporphyrins, this work aims to provide an overview of currently available tools and techniques for the detection of various chemical species through similar approaches, which are constantly being developed.     

酶生物燃料电池自供能传感器的研究现状及应用

在现代分析领域中,对于生物传感器的要求不断倾向于微型化和便捷化。基于酶型生物燃料电池的自供能传感器在检测目标物的同时可以提供能量,避免了外电源的使用,为生物传感器的微型化和便捷化发展提供了有效途径,日益成为人们关注的焦点。本文按照设计原理进行分类,对近五年内发展的基于酶型生物燃料电池的自供能传感器进行了综述,并展望了其今后的研究趋势和应用前景。     

Chemically-modified nanopores for sensing

Sensing with chemically-modified nanopores is an emerging field that is expected to have major impact on bioanalysis and fundamental understanding of nanoscale chemical interactions down to the single-molecule level. The main strength of nanopore sensing is that it implies the prospect of label-free single-molecule detection by taking advantage of the built-in transport-modulation-based amplification mechanism. At present, fabrication and application of solid-state nanopores are becoming the focus of attention because, compared with their biological counterparts, they offer greater flexibility in terms of shape, size, and surface properties, as well as superior robustness. A breakthrough in label-free nanopore sensing for real-world applications is therefore expected from implementing solid-state nanopores, an area that is still developing. Without claiming comprehensiveness, the focus of this review comprises recent results and trends in nanopore-based sensing (i.e. emerging technologies for fabricating solid-state nanopores, their chemical functionalization, and detection methods for quantitative analysis).     

Optical waveguide sensors in analytical chemistry: today’s instrumentation, applications and trends for future development

Current concepts for chemical and biochemical sensing based on detection with optical waveguides are reviewed. The goals are to provide a framework for classifying such sensors and to assist a designer in selecting the most suitable detection techniques and waveguide arrangements. Sensor designs are categorized on the basis of the five parameters that completely describe a light wave: its amplitude, wavelength, phase, polarization state and time-dependent waveform. In the fabrication of a successful sensor, the physical or chemical property of the determined species and the particular light wave parameter to detect it should be selected with care since they jointly dictate the sensitivity, stability, selectivity and accuracy of the eventual measurement. The principle of operation, the nature or the detected optical signal, instrumental requirements for practical applications, and associated problems are analyzed for each category of sensors. Two sorts of sensors are considered: those based on direct spectroscopic detection of the analyte, and those in which the analyte is determined indirectly through use of an analyte-sensitive reagent. Key areas of recent study, useful practical applications, and trends in future development of optical waveguide chemical and biochemical sensors are considered.     

Artificial light-harvesting antennae: electronic energy transfer by way of molecular funnels

Electronic energy transfer (EET) plays a critical role in many biological processes and is used by nature to direct energy to a site where chemical reactions need to be initiated. Such EET can occur over large distances and can involve many individual molecules of identical, similar or disparate chemical identity. Advances in spectroscopy and data processing have allowed the rates of EET to be measured on extremely fast timescales such that improved mechanistic insight becomes feasible. At the same time, highly sophisticated synthetic operations have been devised that facilitate the isolation and purification of elaborate multi-component molecular arrays. A key feature of these arrays concerns the logical positioning of individual units in a way that favours directed EET along the molecular axis or along some other preferred pathway. The availability of these novel molecular materials allows close examination of popular theoretical models and paves the way for the development of advanced molecular sensors, artificial light harvesters, fluorescent labels and sensitizers. Of particular interest is the spectacular growth in the application of boron dipyrromethene dyes as basic reagents in such artificial photon collectors and these compounds have dominated the market in recent years because of their synthetic versatility and valuable photophysical properties. In this article, recent developments in the field are highlighted in terms of synthesis and subsequent spectroscopic exploration.