Multifunctional Wearable Sensing Devices Based on Functionalized Graphene Films for Simultaneous Monitoring of Physiological Signals and Volatile Organic Compound Biomarkers.

In this study, a multifunctional wearable sensing device based on two different graphene films is fabricated and can achieve the simultaneous detection of physiological signals and volatile organic compound (VOC) biomarkers without mutual signal interference. The wearable device was designed with two sensing components: on the upper layer of the device, four kinds of porphyrin-modified reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films were prepared and used for a sensor array that could sufficiently react with VOC vapors to achieve highly sensitive detection. A porous rGO film was designed on the underlayer of the device and used as a strain-sensing matrix, which could be closely attached to the skin to achieve a highly sensitive detection of the physiological signal.

A multifunctional wearable sensor based on a graphene/inverse opal cellulose film for simultaneous, in situ monitoring of human motion and sweat.

A multifunctional, wearable sensor based on a reduced oxide graphene (rGO) film onto a porous inverse opal acetylcellulose (IOAC) film has been developed and can perform simultaneous, in situ monitoring of various human motions and ion concentrations in sweat. The rGO film is used as a strain-sensing layer for monitoring human motion via its resistance change, whereas the porous IOAC film is used as a flexible microstructured substrate not only for high sensitive motion sensing, but also for collection and analysis of ion concentrations in sweat by its simple colorimetric changes or reflection-peak shifts. Studies on humans demonstrated that the devices have excellent capability for monitoring various human motions, such as finger bending motion, wrist bending motion, head rotation motion and various small-scale motions of the throat.

Spherical porphyrin sensor array based on encoded colloidal crystal beads for VOC vapor detection.

A spherical porphyrin sensor array using colloidal crystal beads (CCBs) as the encoding microcarriers has been developed for VOC vapor detection. Six different porphyrins were coated onto the CCBs with distinctive encoded reflection peaks via physical adsorption and the sensor array was fabricated by placing the prepared porphyrin-modified CCBs together. The change in fluorescence color of the porphyrin-modified CCBs array serves as the detection signal for discriminating between different VOC vapors and the reflection peak of the CCBs serves as the encoding signal to distinguish between different sensors.

Colorimetric photonic hydrogel aptasensor for the screening of heavy metal ions.

We have developed a robust method for the visual detection of heavy metal ions (such as Hg(2+) and Pb(2+)) by using aptamer-functionalized colloidal photonic crystal hydrogel (CPCH) films. The CPCHs were derived from a colloidal crystal array of monodisperse silica nanoparticles, which were polymerized within the polyacrylamide hydrogel. The heavy metal ion-responsive aptamers were then cross-linked in the hydrogel network.

Advances of multiplex and high throughput biomolecular detection technologies based on encoding microparticles.

The rapid developments of genomics and proteomics have driven the demand for multiplex and high throughput analysis of large numbers of biomolecules in the fields of medical diagnostics, drug discovery, and environmental monitoring. Encoding the biomolecular binding events is the key technique to fulfill this demand, in which microparticles play the most important roles. This review outlines the development of multiplex and high throughput biodetections, and highlights the most recent advances in the field of encoding microparticles, together with problems that need to be resolved.

Quantum-dot-coated encoded silica colloidal crystals beads for multiplex coding.

Multiplex optical coding carriers for biological assays have been achieved by coating silica colloidal crystals beads with quantum dots, which provided high stability, large capacity and simplicity for practical application.