Controlled reversible assembly of gold nanoparticles as a new colorimetric and sensitive detection of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

Recently, several studies have examined possible applications of nanoparticles for the development of electronic and optical sensors. The plasmon absorbance of gold nanoparticles has been used extensively to study biomolecular processes, including nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide/nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-dependent enzymatic reactions. In this report, we describe the development of gold nanoparticles as a new colorimetric and sensitive detection method of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency by means of controlled reversible assembly of gold nanoparticles.

Asymmetric Modification of Carbon Nanotube Arrays with Thermoresponsive Hydrogel for Controlled Delivery.

In this work, bipolar electrochemistry is used to perform wireless indirect electrodeposition of two different polymer coatings on both sides of carbon nanotube arrays. Using a thermoresponsive hydrogel on one side and an inert insoluble polymer on the other side, it is possible to generate, in a single step, a nanoporous reservoir with Janus character closed on one side by a thermoresponsive membrane. The thermoresponsive polymer, poly(-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM), is generated by the local reduction of persulfate ions, which initiates radical polymerization of NIPAM.

Anisotropic Metal Deposition on TiO Particles by Electric-Field-Induced Charge Separation.

Deposition of metals on TiO semiconductor particles (M-TiO ) results in hybrid Janus objects combining the properties of both materials. One of the techniques proposed to generate Janus particles is bipolar electrochemistry (BPE). The concept can be applied in a straightforward way for the site-selective modification of conducting particles, but is much less obvious to use for semiconductors.

Wireless Synthesis and Activation of Electrochemiluminescent Thermoresponsive Janus Objects Using Bipolar Electrochemistry.

In this work, bipolar electrochemistry (BPE) is used as a dual wireless tool to generate and to activate a thermoresponsive electrochemiluminescent (ECL) Janus object. For the first time, BPE allows regioselective growth of a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) hydrogel film on one side of a carbon fiber. It is achieved thanks to the local reduction of persulfate ions, which initiate radical polymerization of NIPAM.

Use of Capillary Electrophoresis to Study the Binding Interaction of Aptamers with Wild-Type, K103N, and Double Mutant (K103N/Y181C) HIV-1 RT : Studying the Binding Interaction of Wild-Type, K103N, and Double Mutant (K103N/Y181C) HIV-1 RT with Aptamers by Performing the Capillary Electrophoresis.

A number of nucleic acid aptamers with high affinities to human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT) are currently known. They can potentially be developed as broad-spectrum antiviral drugs, but there is little known about their binding interaction with mutant HIV-1 RT. Therefore, we utilized non-equilibrium capillary electrophoresis of equilibrium mixture (NECEEM) to study the interaction of three HIV-1 RTs (wild type, K103N, and double mutant (K103N/Y181C)) with RT1t49 and RT12 aptamers.

Asymmetric synthesis using chiral-encoded metal.

The synthesis of chiral compounds is of crucial importance in many areas of society and science, including medicine, biology, chemistry, biotechnology and agriculture. Thus, there is a fundamental interest in developing new approaches for the selective production of enantiomers. Here we report the use of mesoporous metal structures with encoded geometric chiral information for inducing asymmetry in the electrochemical synthesis of mandelic acid as a model molecule.

A novel method for dengue virus detection and antibody screening using a graphene-polymer based electrochemical biosensor.

Dengue fever is a major disease that kills many people in the developing world every year. During early infection, a patient displays a high temperature without other signs. After this stage, and without proper treatment, serious damage to internal organs can happen, which occasionally leads to death.

Reaction mechanism of methanol to formaldehyde over Fe- and FeO-modified graphene.

We employed periodic DFT calculations (PBE-D2) to investigate the catalytic conversion of methanol over graphene embedded with Fe and FeO. Two possible pathways of dehydrogenation to formaldehyde and dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME) over these catalysts were examined. Both processes are initiated with the activation of methanol over the catalytic center through O-H cleavage.

Site-selective synthesis of Janus-type metal-organic framework composites.

Herein, bipolar electrochemistry is applied in a straightforward way to the site-selective in situ synthesis of metal-organic framework (MOF) structures, which have attracted tremendous interest in recent years because of their significant application potential, ranging from sensing to gas storage and catalysis. The novelty of the presented work is that the deposit can be intentionally confined to a defined area of a substrate without using masks or templates. The intrinsic site-selectivity of bipolar electrochemistry makes it a method of choice to generate, in a highly controlled way, hybrid particles that may have different functionalities combined on the same particle.

Enantioselective recognition at mesoporous chiral metal surfaces.

Chirality is widespread in natural systems, and artificial reproduction of chiral recognition is a major scientific challenge, especially owing to various potential applications ranging from catalysis to sensing and separation science. In this context, molecular imprinting is a well-known approach for generating materials with enantioselective properties, and it has been successfully employed using polymers. However, it is particularly difficult to synthesize chiral metal matrices by this method.

The conversion of CO2 and CH4 to acetic acid over the Au-exchanged ZSM-5 catalyst: a density functional theory study.

The direct conversion of methane and carbon dioxide to acetic acid is one of the most challenging research topics. Using the density functional theory (M06-L) the study reveals the catalytic activity of the Au(I)-ZSM-5 zeolite in this reaction. The Au(I)-ZSM-5 is represented by a 34T quantum cluster model.

Structures, energetics and reaction mechanisms of nitrous oxide on transition-metal-doped and -undoped single-wall carbon nanotubes.

The catalytic activity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for the removal of greenhouse gases, like nitrous oxide (N(2)O), can be fine-tuned by metal doping. We modify the inert surfaces of CNTs with Sc, Ti and V transition metals in order to investigate their capability of converting N(2)O to N(2). The stable composite catalysts of Sc-, Ti- and V-doped (5,5)single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), along with the unmodified one were investigated by periodic DFT calculations.

Thermal stabilization of thin gold nanowires by surfactant-coating: a molecular dynamics study.

The thermal stabilization of thin gold nanowires with a diameter of about 2 nm by surfactants is investigated by means of classical molecular dynamics simulations. While the well-known melting point depression leads to a much lower melting of gold nanowires compared to bulk gold, coating the nanowires with surfactants can reverse this, given that the attractive interaction between surfactant molecules and gold atoms lies beyond a certain threshold. It is found that the melting process of coated nanowires is dominated by surface instability patterns, whereas the melting behaviour of gold nanowires in a vacuum is dominated by the greater mobility of atoms with lower coordination numbers that are located at edges and corners.

Dissymmetric carbon nanotubes by bipolar electrochemistry.

Short carbon nanotubes have been modified selectively on one end with metal using a bulk technique based on bipolar electrochemistry. A stabilized suspension of nanotubes is introduced in a capillary containing an aqueous metal salt solution, and a high electric field is applied to orientate and polarize the individual tubes. During their transport through the capillary under sufficient polarization (30 kV), each nanotube is the site of water oxidation on one end and the site of metal ion reduction on the other end with the size of the formed metal cluster being proportional to the potential drop along the nanotube.