Fluorescence enhancement of fungicide thiabendazole by van der Waals interaction with transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheets for highly specific sensors.

Many molecules quench their fluorescence upon adsorption on surfaces. Herein we show that the interaction of thiabendazole, a widespread used fungicide of the benzimidazole family, with nanosheets of transition metal dichalcogenides, particularly of WS2, leads to a significant increase, more than a factor of 5, of the fluorescence yield. This surprising effect is rationalized by DFT calculations and found to be related to the inhibition of the intramolecular rotation between the benzimidazole and thiazole groups due to a bonding rigidization upon interaction with the MoS2 surface.

Synergistic effect of MoS and diamond nanoparticles in electrochemical sensors: determination of the anticonvulsant drug valproic acid.

The authors describe an electrochemical sensor based on the use of diamond nanoparticles (DNPs) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS) platelets. The sensor was applied to the voltammetric determination of the anticonvulsant valproic acid which was previously derivatized with ferrocene. The MoS platelets were obtained by an exfoliation method, and the DNPs were directly dispersed in water and subsequently deposited on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE).

AFM, SECM and QCM as useful analytical tools in the characterization of enzyme-based bioanalytical platforms.

One of the key issues to develop biosensing platforms concerns the processes involved in enzyme immobilization on surfaces. The understanding of their fundamentals is crucial to obtain stable and catalytically active protein layers for developing successful biosensing devices. In this respect, the advent and development of new characterization techniques, in particular at the submicron level, has allowed the study of these processes with high resolution, which has opened new routes to improve, and eventually control, enzyme immobilization on electrode surfaces.