Carbon dots-decorated hydroxyapatite nanowires–lanthanide metal–organic framework composites as fluorescent sensors for the detection of dopamine

A ratiometric composite fluorescent probe (HAPNWs-CDs-Tb/MOF) with hydroxyapatite carrier and the fluorescence ratio of carbon dots and lanthanide metal organic framework as the response signal was prepared for the detection of dopamine.

Synthesis of sea urchin-shaped Au nanocrystals by double-strand diblock oligonucleotides for surface-enhanced Raman scattering and catalytic application

It is of great significance to construct specially designed gold nanocrystals (AuNCs) with precisely controllable size and morphology to achieve an excellent physicochemical performance. In this work, sea urchin-shaped AuNCs with tunable plasmonic property were successfully synthesized by the hybridized double-strand poly adenine (dsPolyA) DNA-directed self-assembly technique. Hybridized dsPolyA as the directing template had suitable rigidity and upright conformation, which benefited the controllable formation of these anisotropic multi-branched AuNCs with the assistance of surfactant. The effects of essential conditions influencing the synthesis and precise morphology control were investigated in detail. COMSOL simulation was used to evaluate their electromagnetic field distribution according to their morphologies, and the result suggested that sea urchin-shaped AuNCs had abundant 'hot spots' for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection due to their regular nanoprotuberance structure. Finally, sea urchin-shaped AuNCs with excellent SERS and catalytic performance were applied for the quantitative analysis of food colorant and catalytic degradation of potential pollutants. The SERS enhancement factor of sea urchin-shaped AuNCs was up to 5.27 × 10⁶, and the catalytic degradation rate for 4-NP by these AuNCs was up to -0.13min^-1.

Recent advances in nanomaterial-assisted detection coupled with capillary and microchip electrophoresis

Nanomaterials have drawn much attention because of their unique properties enabling them to play important roles in various applications in different areas. This review covers literature data in the Web of Science from January 2017 to August 2020, focusing on the applications of nanomaterials (nanoparticles, quantum dots, nanotubes, and graphene) in CE and MCE to achieve enhanced sensitivity of several detection techniques: fluorescence, colorimetry, amperometry, and chemiluminescence /electrochemiluminescence. For the articles surveyed, the types of nanomaterials used, detection mechanisms, analytical performance, and applications are presented and discussed.

Fluorescence turn-off-on for highly selective detection of serum l-cysteine based on AuNCs-AuNPs ensembles

The discriminative monitoring of l-cysteine in biological fluids is a great challenge. A fluorescent “turn-off-on” probe based on AuNCs-AuNPs ensembles for l-cysteine detection with high selectivity has been developed.