Laser-Treated Screen-Printed Carbon Electrodes for Electrochemiluminescence imaging.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is nowadays a powerful technique widely used in biosensing and imaging, offering high sensitivity and specificity for detecting and mapping biomolecules. Screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) offer a versatile and cost-effective platform for ECL applications due to their ease of fabrication, disposability, and suitability for large-scale production. This research introduces a novel method for improving the ECL characteristics of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) through the application of CO laser treatment following fabrication.

Self-healing, piezoresistive and temperature responsive behaviour of chitosan/polyacrylic acid dynamic hydrogels.

Flexible electronics have introduced new challenges for efficient human-machine interactions. Hydrogels have emerged as prominent materials for electronic wearable applications due to their exceptional mechanical deformability and lightweight characteristics combined in some cases with conductive properties, and softness. Additionally, bio-interphases require multisensory response to stress, strain, temperature, and self-healing capacity.

Enhanced Electrochemiluminescence at the Gas/Liquid Interface of Bubbles Propelled into Solution.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is typically confined to a micrometric region from the electrode surface. This study demonstrates that ECL emission can extend up to several millimeters away from the electrode employing electrogenerated chlorine bubbles. The mechanism behind this bubble-enhanced ECL was investigated using an Au microelectrode in chloride-containing and chloride-free electrolyte solutions.

Toward Next-Generation Mobile Diagnostics: Near-Field Communication-Powered Electrochemiluminescent Detection.

Mobile phones have been used in combination with point of care (PoC) devices for over a decade now. However, their use seems restricted to the detection of sensing events using the video and camera functions. In contrast, the complementary ability to use mobile phones to power such PoC devices has been largely unexplored.

Solid Polymer Electrolytes Based on Gellan Gum and Ionic Liquid for Sustainable Electrochromic Devices.

Materials sustainability is becoming increasingly relevant in every developed technology and, consequently, environmentally friendly solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) based on gellan gum and different quantities of ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium-thiocyanate [Emim][SCN] have been prepared and applied in electrochromic devices (ECDs). The addition of the IL does not affect the crystalline phase of gellan gum, and the samples show a compact morphology, surface uniformity, no phase separation, and good distribution of the IL within the carrageenan matrix. The developed SPE are thermally stable up to ∼100 °C and show suitable mechanical properties.

Integrated Photonic System for Early Warning of Cyanobacterial Blooms in Aquaponics.

Cyanobacterial blooms produce hazardous toxins, deplete oxygen, and secrete compounds that confer undesirable organoleptic properties to water. To prevent bloom appearance, the World Health Organization has established an alert level between 500 and 2000 cells·mL, beyond the capabilities of most optical sensors detecting the cyanobacteria fluorescent pigments. Flow cytometry, cell culturing, and microscopy may reach these detection limits, but they involve both bulky and expensive laboratory equipment or long and tedious protocols.

Suspended Silicon Microphotodiodes for Electrochemical and Biological Applications.

Local electric stimulation of tissues and cells has gained importance as therapeutic alternative in the treatment of many diseases. These alternatives aim to deliver a less invasively stimuli in liquid media, making imperative the development of versatile micro- and nanoscale solutions for wireless actuation. Here, a simple microfabrication process to produce suspended silicon microphotodiodes that can be activated by visible light to generate local photocurrents in their surrounding medium is presented.

Development of amperometric biosensors based on nanostructured tyrosinase-conducting polymer composite electrodes.

Bio-composite coatings consisting of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and tyrosinase (Ty) were successfully electrodeposited on conventional size gold (Au) disk electrodes and microelectrode arrays using sinusoidal voltages. Electrochemical polymerization of the corresponding monomer was carried out in the presence of various Ty amounts in aqueous buffered solutions. The bio-composite coatings prepared using sinusoidal voltages and potentiostatic electrodeposition methods were compared in terms of morphology, electrochemical properties, and biocatalytic activity towards various analytes.

Design and fabrication of a COP-based microfluidic chip: chronoamperometric detection of Troponin T.

This work demonstrates the design and fabrication of an all cyclo-olefin polymer based microfluidic device capable of capturing magnetic beads and performing electrochemical detection in a series of gold electrodes. The size of chip is of a microscope slide and features six independent measuring cells for multianalyte detection purposes. The aim of this work is to show that rapid prototyping techniques can be instrumental in the development of novel bioassays, particularly in clinical diagnosis applications.

Thick-film voltammetric pH-sensors with internal indicator and reference species.

The following paper describes the development of a screen-printed voltammetric pH-sensor based on graphite electrodes incorporating both internal indicator (i.e., phenanthraquinone) and reference species (i.

Amperometric detection of Enterobacteriaceae in river water by measuring β-galactosidase activity at interdigitated microelectrode arrays.

Two simple methodologies are compared for the detection of faecal contamination in water using amperometry at gold interdigitated microelectrodes. They rely on the detection of β-galactosidase (β-gal) by redox cycling amperometry of the p-aminophenol (PAP) produced by the enzyme from the 4-aminophenyl β-d-galactopyranoside (PAPG) substrate. The use of phages as specific agents for the release of the bacteria-enclosed enzyme allowed the detection of 6×10(5) CFU mL(-1)Escherichia coli in 2 h without any pre-enrichment or preconcentration steps.

Integration of a zero dead-volume PDMS rotary switch valve in a miniaturised (bio)electroanalytical system.

This work features the design, fabrication and characterisation of a miniaturised electroanalytical lab on a chip that allows the performance of a complete bioassay, from the capture of magnetic particles through their functionalisation and sample incubation to the detection of electroactive reaction products. The system is built using mainly polymeric materials such as PMMA and PDMS and fast prototyping techniques such as milling and moulding. The system also includes a set of microelectrodes, photo-lithographed on a silicon chip.