Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




TECH SPACE
Researchers Create Method for More Sensitive Electrochemical Sensors
by Staff Writers
Evanston IL (SPX) Jan 22, 2013


Vinayak Dravid.

Graphene and related materials hold promise for the future of electrochemical sensors - detectors that measure the concentration of oxygen, toxic gases, and other substances - but many applications require greater sensitivity at lower detection ranges than scientists have been able to achieve.

A Northwestern University research team and partners in India have recently developed a new method for amplifying signals in graphene oxide-based electrochemical sensors through a process called "magneto-electrochemical immunoassay." The findings could open up a new class of technologies with applications in medicine, chemistry, and engineering.

Researchers from Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Northwestern International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN), the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental (NUANCE) Center, and the Institute for Microbial Technology (IMTECH)-India, a national laboratory of India, contributed to the research.

A paper about the work, "Enhancing Electrochemical Detection on Graphene Oxide-CNT Nanostructured Electrodes Using Magneto-Nanobioprobes," was published November 19 in Nature Scientific Reports.

Graphene-based nanocomposite films have recently been used as an effective sensing platform for the development of electrochemical sensors and biosensors because of their unique facile surface modification characteristics and high charge mobility.

The researchers' new concept combines the advantages carbon nanotubes and reduced graphene oxide together with electrochemical bursting of magnetic gold nanoparticles into a large number of metal ions.

High sensitivity was achieved by precisely designing the nanohybrid and correlating the available metal ions with analyte concentration. The researchers used tiny magnetic particles encapsulated in inert coating of silicon dioxide to make core-shell nanostructures with favorable magnetic properties of metallic iron while preventing them from oxidation or significant degradation. They were then coated with gold because of its chemical inertness and biocompatibility.

This novel immune-detection platform shows potential for rapid and sensitive screening of environmental pollutants or toxins in samples. Researchers reported the ultrahigh sensitivity of this method for a new generation of herbicide diuron and its analogues up to sub-picomolar concentration in standard water samples.

The process also proved to be efficient and cost-effective: tens of thousands of screen-printed electrodes can be manufactured quite readily with low cost for such hybrid assay.

The paper's authors included Vinayak Dravid, professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern, a founding member of IIN, and director of the NUANCE Center; Gajendera Shekhawat, research associate professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern; Jinsong Wu, research assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern; and lead author Priyanka Sharma, Vijayender Bhalla, E. Senthil Prasad, and C. Raman Suri, all of the Institute of Microbial Technology, India.

.


Related Links
Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Space Technology News - Applications and Research






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








TECH SPACE
Researchers move Barkhausen Effect forward
Edmonton, Canada (SPX) Jan 21, 2013
Almost 100 years after the initial discovery, a team of scientists at the University of Alberta and the National Institute for Nanotechnology in Edmonton have harnessed the Barkhausen Effect as a new kind of high-resolution microscopy for the insides of magnetic materials. The researchers say the technique has the potential to provide critical information as a rapid prototyper for magnetic ... read more


TECH SPACE
US, Europe team up for moon fly-by

Russia to Launch Lunar Mission in 2015

US, Europe team up for moon fly-by

Mission would drag asteroid to the moon

TECH SPACE
Opportunity At Work At Whitewater Lake

Thawing Dry Ice Drives Groovy Action On Mars

Mars Rover Curiosity Uses Arm Camera at Night

Possible Clues to Ancient Subsurface Biosphere on Mars

TECH SPACE
Iran Manufacturing Hi-Tech Spacesuits

TDRS-K Offers Upgrade to Vital Communications Net

An Astronaut's Guide

Mathematical breakthrough sets out rules for more effective teleportation

TECH SPACE
Reshuffle for Tiangong

China to launch 20 spacecrafts in 2013

Mr Xi in Space

China plans manned space launch in 2013: state media

TECH SPACE
NASA to Send Inflatable Pod to International Space Station

ISS to get inflatable module

ESA workhorse to power NASA's Orion spacecraft

Competition Hopes To Fine Tune ISS Solar Array Shadowing

TECH SPACE
Azerspace And Africasat-1a "fit" for Ariane 5 launch

NASA Selects Experimental Commercial Suborbital Flight Payloads

Payload elements come together in Starsem's wrap-up Soyuz mission from Baikonur Cosmodrome for Globalstar

Amazonas 3 in Kourou for Ariane 5 year-opening launch campaign

TECH SPACE
New Evidence Indicates Auroras Occur Outside Our Solar System

Glitch has space telescope shut down

Earth-size planets common in galaxy

NASA's Hubble Reveals Rogue Planetary Orbit For Fomalhaut B

TECH SPACE
New information on binding gold particles over metal oxide surfaces

Researchers Create Method for More Sensitive Electrochemical Sensors

Phoenix Rising: New Video Shows Advances in Satellite Repurposing Program

Novel sensor provides bigger picture




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement