Synergistic Effect of Oxygen Vacancy-Rich SnO and AgCl in the Augmentation of Sustained Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Developing a stable and methanol-tolerant electrocatalyst for a sustained oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of great importance for advancing direct methanol fuel cell applications. The silver-based electrocatalysts are particularly interesting among the promising non-Pt-based electrocatalysts for ORR. Herein, we report a single-step synthesis of a composite of AgCl and SnO with oxygen vacancy (AgCl-SnO(V)), which exhibits sustained and selective catalytic activity for the ORR along with excellent durability.

Electrochemical Approach for the Synthesis of Ultrasmall Cu Clusters and Their Application in the Detection of Endotoxin.

Ultrasmall metal nanoclusters are attractive for their size-dependent optical and electrochemical properties. Here, blue-emitting copper clusters stabilized with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) are synthesized using an electrochemical approach. The electrospray ionization (ESI) analysis reveals that the cluster has 13 copper atoms in the core.

Label-free detection of endotoxin and gram-negative bacteria from water using copper (I) oxide anchored reduced graphene oxide.

Bacterial contamination is a serious concern for health and environmental safety. The major toxic effect arises from the endotoxin or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) attached to the cell wall of the gram-negative bacteria. Ultrasensitive endotoxin detection is of supreme importance in sustaining food, clinical and pharmaceutical safety.

Cu-Mediated Aggregation of Gold Nanoparticles as an Optical Probe for the Detection of Endotoxin.

Endotoxins or lipopolysaccharides (LPS) present in the outer layer of Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) are responsible for bacterial toxicity. It is an environmental hazard that everyone is exposed to daily to various extents. Due to its potent toxicity, quantitative detection with very high sensitivity is essential in the food, medical, and pharmaceutical industries.

Enhancing the catalytic activity of bulk MoS towards hydrogen evolution reaction by the formation of MoS-MoO-ReO heterostructure.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) are promising cost-effective catalysts for electrochemical/photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). One of the strategies to enhance the inherent HER activity of a catalyst is to form heterostructures. Herein, a facile thermal treatment method is reported for the synthesis of a novel heterostructure catalyst, Molybdenum disulphide-Molybdenum trioxide-Rhenium oxide (MoS-MoO-ReO), for HER.

Cerium Oxide Nanoparticle Incorporated Electrospun Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate--3-hydroxyvalerate) Membranes for Diabetic Wound Healing Applications.

Insufficient cell proliferation, cell migration, and angiogenesis are among the major causes for nonhealing of chronic diabetic wounds. Incorporation of cerium oxide nanoparticles (nCeO) in wound dressings can be a promising approach to promote angiogenesis and healing of diabetic wounds. In this paper, we report the development of a novel nCeO containing electrospun poly(3-hydroxybutyrate--3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) membrane for diabetic wound healing applications.

Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Polycations and Polyanions for the Sensitive Detection of Endotoxin.

Bacterial endotoxin detection is an essential safety requisite in biomedical, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Endotoxin in a sufficient concentration on entering the human bloodstream causes detrimental effects such as septic shock, which can lead to death. Hence, the sensitive and selective detection of endotoxin also known as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is of paramount importance.

Highly sensitive endotoxin detection using a gold nanoparticle loaded layered molybdenum disulfide-polyacrylic acid nanocomposite.

Endotoxins or lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are pathogens released from the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria which produce toxic effects on humans. The sensitive and selective detection of LPS is in high demand, especially in the field of medical supplies, therapeutics and in the food industry. Herein we report a new nano-probe based on a gold nanoparticle loaded, water-soluble layered molybdenum disulfide-polyacrylic acid (Au/MoS-PAA) nanocomposite as a label-free voltammetric aptasensor for ultrasensitive LPS detection.

1-Pyrene carboxylic acid functionalized carbon nanotube-gold nanoparticle nanocomposite for electrochemical sensing of dopamine and uric acid.

A highly sensitive, selective and cost effective method is described for sensing dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA). A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with a nanocomposite consisting of gold nanoparticle-loaded multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) modified with 1-pyrene carboxylic acid (PCA). The stable aqueous dispersion of non-covalently functionalized CNT-PCA is an efficient bioprobe for the ultra sensitive and selective detection of dopamine and uric acid in the presence of the potentially interfering agent ascorbic acid (AA).

Yttrium oxide nanoparticle loaded scaffolds with enhanced cell adhesion and vascularization for tissue engineering applications.

In situ tissue engineering is emerging as a novel approach in tissue engineering to repair damaged tissues by boosting the natural ability of the body to heal itself. This can be achieved by providing suitable signals and scaffolds that can augment cell migration, cell adhesion on the scaffolds and proliferation of endogenous cells that facilitate the repair. Lack of appropriate cell proliferation and angiogenesis are among the major issues associated with the limited success of in situ tissue engineering during in vivo studies.

Nanosheets of nickel, cobalt and manganese triple hydroxides/oxyhydroxides as efficient electrode materials for asymmetrical supercapacitors.

Transition metals play a significant role in energy storage applications mainly as electrode materials in supercapacitors. In this work, triple hydroxide/oxyhydroxide nanosheets of a nickel, cobalt and manganese (NCM) composite were electrochemically deposited on carbon cloth (CC) and used as electrode materials in supercapacitors. In a three electrode system the composite delivered a specific capacitance of 707 F g-1 at a current density of 3 A g-1 which retained its stability even at a higher current density of 50 A g-1.

Nanoceria Can Act as the Cues for Angiogenesis in Tissue-Engineering Scaffolds: Toward Next-Generation in Situ Tissue Engineering.

Next-generation tissue engineering exploits the body's own regenerative capacity by providing an optimal niche via a scaffold for the migration and subsequent proliferation of endogenous cells to the site of injury, enhancing regeneration and healing and bypassing laborious in vitro cell-culturing procedures. Such systems are also required to have a sufficient angiogenic capacity for the subsequent patency of implanted scaffolds. The exploitation of redox properties of nanodimensional ceria (nCeO) in in situ tissue engineering to promote cell adhesion and angiogenesis is poorly investigated.

Gold atomic cluster mediated electrochemical aptasensor for the detection of lipopolysaccharide.

We have constructed an aptamer immobilized gold atomic cluster mediated, ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor (Apt/AuAC/Au) for LPS detection without any additional signal amplification strategy. The aptamer self-assemble onto the gold atomic clusters makes Apt/AuAC/Au an excellent platform for the LPS detection. Differential pulse voltammetry and EIS were used for the quantitative LPS detection.

Carbon nanostructures as immobilization platform for DNA: A review on current progress in electrochemical DNA sensors.

Development of a sensitive, specific and cost-effective DNA detection method is motivated by increasing demand for the early stage diagnosis of genetic diseases. Recent developments in the design and fabrication of efficient sensor platforms based on nanostructures make the highly sensitive sensors which could indicate very low detection limit to the level of few molecules, a realistic possibility. Electrochemical detection methods are widely used in DNA diagnostics as it provide simple, accurate and inexpensive platform for DNA detection.

Reduced graphene oxide-yttria nanocomposite modified electrode for enhancing the sensitivity of electrochemical genosensor.

Reduced graphene oxide-yttria nanocomposite (rGO:Y) is applied as electrochemical genosensor platform for ultrahigh sensitive detection of breast cancer 1 (BRCA1) gene for the first time. The sensor is based on the sandwich assay in which gold nanoparticle cluster labeled reporter DNA hybridize to the target DNA. Glassy carbon electrode modified with rGO-yttria serves as the immobilization platform for capture probe DNA.

Quartz crystal microbalance genosensor for sequence specific detection of attomolar DNA targets.

A mass sensitive quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) based genosensor has been developed using breast cancer 1 (BRCA1) gene as a model gene. We modified the traditional sandwich assay by conjugating reporter probe DNA (DNA-r) with an assembly of gold nanoparticles leading to an increased mass on the surface, which enhanced the sensitivity to few orders of magnitude. The unique cleavage function of endonuclease is used for achieving the selectivity to complementary DNA over mismatched DNA.

Correction: Nitrogen-fluorine co-doped titania inverse opals for enhanced solar light driven photocatalysis.

Correction for 'Nitrogen-fluorine co-doped titania inverse opals for enhanced solar light driven photocatalysis' by T. K. Rahul et al.

Nitrogen-fluorine co-doped titania inverse opals for enhanced solar light driven photocatalysis.

Three dimensionally ordered nitrogen-fluorine (N-F) co-doped TiO2 inverse opals (IOs) were fabricated by templating with polystyrene (PS) colloidal photonic crystals (CPCs) by infiltration. During preparation, the TiO2 precursor was treated with a mixture of nitric acid and trifluoroacetic acid to facilitate N-F co-doping into the TiO2 lattice. Enhanced solar light absorption was observed in the samples as a consequence of the red shift in the electronic band gap of TiO2 due to N-F co-doping.

A highly sensitive DNA sensor for attomolar detection of the BRCA1 gene: signal amplification with gold nanoparticle clusters.

Single stranded DNA fragments were conjugated onto gold nanoparticles leading to the formation of gold nanoparticle clusters upon hybridization with complementary strands. These clusters were successfully implemented for signal amplification in an electrochemical DNA sensor based on a graphene substrate. The sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity and selectivity with a detection limit of 50 attomolar target DNA.

Attomolar detection of BRCA1 gene based on gold nanoparticle assisted signal amplification.

In this work, we report a simple strategy for signal amplification using appropriately functionalized gold nanoparticles in an electrochemical genosensor which led to attomolar detection of breast cancer 1 (BRCA1) gene. The sensor was developed by the layer-by-layer assembly of mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), polyethylene glycol (PEG) functionalized gold nanoparticle (AuNPPEG), capture DNA (DNA-c), target BRCA1 DNA (DNA-t) and gold nanoparticle labeled reporter DNA (DNA-r.AuNP) on gold electrode.

Synthesis of nanotitania decorated few-layer graphene for enhanced visible light driven photocatalysis.

We report a simple method for decorating carboxyl functionalized few-layer graphene with titania (TiO2) nanoparticles by sonication and stirring under room temperature. The nanocomposites showed a remarkable improvement in visible light driven photocatalysis. From Raman and XRD analysis the number of layers of graphene was found to be 3.

Detection of glucose using immobilized bienzyme on cyclic bisureas-gold nanoparticle conjugate.

A highly sensitive electrochemical glucose sensor has been developed by the co-immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) onto a gold electrode modified with biocompatible cyclic bisureas-gold nanoparticle conjugate (CBU-AuNP). A self-assembled monolayer of mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and CBU-AuNP was formed on the gold electrode through a layer-by-layer assembly. This modified electrode was used for immobilization of the enzymes GOx and HRP.

Femtomolar level detection of BRCA1 gene using a gold nanoparticle labeled sandwich type DNA sensor.

We demonstrate the amplified detection of BRCAI gene based on the gold nanoparticle labeled DNA sensor. The sensor was based on a "sandwich" detection strategy, which involved an immobilized capture probe DNA (DNA-c), Target DNA (DNA-t) and gold nanoparticle conjugated reporter probe DNA (DNA-r.AuNP).

Synthesis and characterization of gold-chitosan nanocomposite and application of resultant nanocomposite in sensors.

Chitosan gold nanocomposite (CGNC) was synthesized in a single step process and the pH dependent properties of the composite were investigated. The structure of the polymer was pH dependent and gelation of the polymer observed at pH 4-5. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed that the distribution of gold nanoparticles within unit area varied with the gelation of the polymer, without affecting the size of the nanoparticles.

Size controlled synthesis of biocompatible gold nanoparticles and their activity in the oxidation of NADH.

Size and shape controlled synthesis remains a major bottleneck in the research on nanoparticles even after the development of different methods for their preparation. By tuning the size and shape of a nanoparticle, the intrinsic properties of the nanoparticle can be controlled leading tremendous potential applications in different fields of science and technology. We describe a facile route for the one pot synthesis of gold nanoparticles in water using monosodium glutamate as the reducing and stabilizing agent in the absence of seed particles.