Large-scale protein/antibody patterning with limiting unspecific adsorption

A simple synthetic route based on nanosphere lithography has been developed in order to design a large-scale nanoarray for specific control of protein anchoring. This technique based on two-dimensional (2D) colloidal crystals composed of polystyrene spheres allows the easy and inexpensive fabrication of large arrays (up to several centimeters) by reducing the cost. A silicon wafer coated with a thin adhesion layer of chromium (15 nm) and a layer of gold (50 nm) is used as a substrate. PS spheres are deposited on the gold surface using the floating-transferring technique. The PS spheres were then functionalized with PEG-biotin and the defects by self-assembly monolayer (SAM) PEG to prevent unspecific adsorption. Using epifluorescence microscopy, we show that after immersion of sample on target protein (avidin and anti-avidin) solution, the latter are specifically located on polystyrene spheres. Thus, these results are meaningful for exploration of devices based on a large-scale nanoarray of PS spheres and can be used for detection of target proteins or simply to pattern a surface with specific proteins.     

磁性液体中非磁性小球与磁性纳米颗粒的相互作用及磁组装

利用磁性液体与聚苯乙烯小球溶液混合得到的复合磁性液体, 研究了聚苯乙烯小球和磁性纳米颗粒在外加磁场作用下的动力学过程. 实验结果表明, 当外加磁场的方向平行于样品平面时, 聚苯乙烯小球在沿着磁场的方向上表现出相互吸引而形成链状结构, 其动力学过程可分为聚苯乙烯小球被反磁化产生相互吸引而形成短链的快过程以及短链间相互吸引形成长链的慢过程; 当外加磁场的方向垂直于样品平面时, 相邻聚苯乙烯小球表现出排斥的相互作用而形成短程有序的二维结构, 当磁场强度增加到一定的阈值时, 聚苯乙烯小球和磁性纳米颗粒形成的团簇会产生相互吸引而组装成复合式的花瓣结构. 关键词： 磁性液体 磁组装 非磁性颗粒     

Anomalous vibrational dispersion in holographically trapped colloidal arrays

Colloidal spheres localized in an array of harmonic wells form a thermally excited, viscously damped dynamical system capable of supporting propagating elastic waves. Experimentally realized with micrometer-scale polystyrene spheres localized in a line of holographic optical traps, the hydrodynamically coupled array's behavior is quantitatively explained by a model based on the Oseen superposition approximation. The spheres' purely dissipative coupling is predicted to mediate a crossover to a regime of underdamped propagating elastic waves with uniformly negative group velocities that has yet to be verified experimentally.     

Optical switching based on the manipulation of microparticles in a colloidal liquid using strong scattering force

This paper demonstrates the realization of an optical switch by optically manipulating a large number of polystyrene spheres contained in a capillary.The strong scattering force exerted on polystyrene spheres with a large diameter of 4.3 μm is employed to realize the switching operation.A transparent window is opened for the signal light when the polystyrene spheres originally located at the beam centre are driven out of the beam region by the strong scattering force induced by the control light.The switching dynamics under different incident powers is investigated and compared with that observed in the optical switch based on the formation of optical matter.It is found that a large extinction ratio of ～ 30 dB and fast switching-on and switching-off times can be achieved in this type of switch.     

用聚苯乙烯小球模拟生物组织中的光强分布

用水中周期排列的直径为3μm的单层聚苯乙烯小球以及单个聚苯乙烯小球模拟对光敏感的生物组织，如绿色植物叶肉细胞、动物皮肤的表皮细胞、苍蝇蜜蜂等的复眼以及一种海蛇尾背部的光敏器官的光强分布.通过观测聚苯乙烯小球在不同深度的光强分布，发现随着深度的改变其光强分布是截然不同的.在小球的横截面上，光强分布不很均匀而且呈有规律的花纹图案.在小球的外面，光强分布表现为独立的透镜成像分布.周期排列的小球与单个小球在其横截面上的光强分布也完全不同，前者的光强分布表现出球与球之间很大的相关性. 关键词： 生物组织 周期排列 光强分布     

Fabrication and magnetic behaviour of 2D ordered Fe/SiO2 nanodots array

We have demonstrated a simple and universal morphology-controlled growth of 2D ordered Fe/SiO₂ magnetic nanodots array, which was based on 2D colloidal monolayer template composed of polystyrene (PS) spheres and one-step sol-gel spin-coating technique. The Fe/SiO₂ nanodots have a well-ordered structure arranged in a hexagonal pattern. The dots have the shape of quasi-pyramidal tetrahedron, which reside in the interstitial region between three PS spheres and the substrate. Magnetic measurements reveal that the nanodots array exhibits the in-plane easy magnetization direction. Compared with the unpatterned Fe/SiO₂ thin film, the dots array has lower saturated field, higher remanence and coercivity. The present method is applicable to 2D ordered nanodots array of other magnetic materials.     

Ordered macroporous gold thin film with encaptured polymer spheres

A two-dimensional colloidal crystal fabricated from core-shell polystyrene spheres was employed as a template for the electrochemical deposition of gold. By partially embedding the colloidal spheres into the gold film and selectively removing the shells of the colloidal spheres, highly ordered macroporous gold thin films with captured polystyrene spheres were obtained.     

Confinement-induced colloidal attractions in equilibrium

The Poisson-Boltzmann theory for colloidal electrostatic interactions predicts that charged colloidal spheres dispersed in water should repel each other, even when confined by charged surfaces. Direct measurements on highly charged polystyrene spheres, however, reveal strong, long-ranged confinement-induced attractions that have yet to be explained. We demonstrate that anomalous attractions also characterize the equilibrium pair potential for more weakly charged colloidal silica spheres sedimented into a monolayer above a glass surface. This observation substantially expands the range of conditions for which mean-field theory incorrectly predicts the sign of macroions' interactions, and provides new insights into how confinement induces long-ranged like-charge attractions.     

Linear and nonlinear optical studies in photonic crystal alloys

We report on linear transmittance and reflectance as well as on third-harmonic generation in photonic crystal alloys formed by various compositions of polystyrene and poly (methyl methacrylate) colloidal spheres of the same size. These photonic crystal alloys are structurally ordered but contain refractive-index disorder and thus provide a random variation of scattering potential. The stopgap shows a monotonic shift in wavelength as a function of composition that can be fitted by assuming an effective dielectric constant for the colloidal spheres. In each alloy a dramatic enhancement of third-harmonic generation is observed, always on the short-wavelength side of the stopgap.     

Nanometer Calibration Particles: What is Available and What is Needed?

Information on available polystyrene calibration spheres is presented regarding the particle diameter, uncertainty in the size, and the width of the size distribution for particles in a size range between 20 and 100nm. The use of differential mobility analysis for measuring the single primary calibration standard in this size range, 100nm NIST Standard Reference Material®1963, is described along with the key factors in the uncertainty assessment. The issues of differences between international standards and traceability to the NIST Standard are presented. The lack of suitable polystyrene spheres in the 20–40nm size range will be discussed in terms of measurement uncertainty and width of the size distributions. Results on characterizing a new class of molecular particles known as dendrimers will be described and the possibilities of using these as size calibration standards for the size range from 3 to 15nm will be discussed.     

CONSTRUCTION OF AN OPTICAL TWEEZERS—CALCULATION AND EXPERIMENTS

We report the construction of an optical tweezers system and the results of the trapping and the moving of living algal cells. Experimental study on trapping polystyrene spheres demonstrates the effects of the system parameters on the trap. The trapping forces on dielectric spheres are calculated using Ashkin's ray-optics model. The result shows that an objective with higher numerical aperture can build a more stable trap along axial direction than an objective with lower numerical aperture, though their transverse trapping forces are on the same order.     

Numerical study of the effects of scatterer sizes and distributions on multiple backscattered intensity patterns of polarized light

We investigate numerically the effects of scatterer sizes on backscattered polarization patterns using the third-order scattering model developed. The calculated results show that both parallel and cross polarization patterns from water suspensions of polystyrene spheres have four-lobe structures of the azimuth dependence of intensities. Particularly, the parallel polarization pattern is sensitive to scatterer sizes, exhibiting good agreement with prior experimental measurements. Furthermore, the polarization patterns from the dysplastic and normal cells with different size distribution widths are calculated and analyzed. The results show that the polarization patterns of dysplastic and normal cells have distinct differences, which might be used for identification of the morphological structure changes of cancer, dysplasia, and regeneration cells.     

Nano-sized silica hollow spheres: Preparation, mechanism analysis and its water retention property

In this article, synthesis of nano-sized silica hollow spheres applying positive charged polystyrene as sacrificial templates was introduced. Firstly, nano-sized polystyrene particles were synthesized by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization under solvothermal condition. Secondly, silica hollow nanospheres were formed through a simultaneous ‘coating-etching’ process. PVP played a key role in the evolution of nano-sized hollow spheres even if the templates were positive charged and the formation mechanism was different from that of previous studies. TEM results revealed that the morphologies of nano-sized silica hollow spheres not only strongly relied on the amount of reactant, but also the sequence of adding them. TGA illustrated that the interiors of nano-sized silica hollow spheres were not completely ‘hollow’. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis showed that this material had a specific area of 399 m²/g. The water retention property of the materials was also investigated.     

Optical trapping of nanoparticles and microparticles by a Gaussian standing wave

The optical trapping of nanoparticles and microparticles by a Gaussian standing wave is experimentally demonstrated for the first time to the authors' knowledge. The standing wave is obtained under a microscope objective as a result of the interference of an incoming laser beam and a beam reflected on a microscope slide that has been coated with a system of reflective dielectric layers. Experimental results show that three-dimensional trapping of nanoparticles (100-nm polystyrene spheres) and one or more vertically aligned micro-objects (5-mum polystyrene spheres, yeast cells) can easily be achieved by use of even highly aberrated beams or objectives with low numerical apertures.     

Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial action of hollow titania spheres

Hollow titania spheres were synthesized using the cationic polystyrene lattices which were prepared by polymerization in suspension of styrene using 2,2′-azobis (2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (AMPA) as an initiator. These cationic colloidal particles were dispersed in absolute ethanol in the presence of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), solution of sodium chloride (NaCl) and mixed with ethanolic solutions of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP). Subsequently, hollow spheres of titania compounds were obtained by calcinations of the so-coated polystyrene lattices at elevated temperature in air. The hollow titania spheres were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FT-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Moreover, antibacterial action of illuminated hollow titania spheres on pure culture of Escherichia coli (E. coli) was studied. A decrease of E. coli concentration was observed after illumination of bacteria in the presence of hollow titania spheres.     

Dielectric microsphere mediated transfection using a femtosecond laser

We demonstrate the permeabilization of cell membranes by an enhanced optical field generated under polystyrene microspheres of 1000 nm diameter excited by a femtosecond laser pulse. Fluorescent molecules and short interfering RNA (siRNA) have been successfully delivered to many cells in the irradiated area by a single 80 fs laser pulse at 800 nm wavelength in the presence of antibody-conjugated polystyrene spheres. The ratios of the cells showing permeabilization were 38% and 21% for Fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran and siRNA, respectively, at the laser fluence of 1.06 J/cm(2). The present method has advantages both in high throughput of many cell treatments and precise processing of minute areas on cell membranes.     

一种用于LSPR传感器的准正方型银纳米颗粒阵列制备

首先控制聚苯乙烯纳米球(PS球)乳液在基片上的干燥温度,采用自组装方法,使用单一粒径的PS球制备出单层的PS球亚稳态正方排列结构模板。然后,在模板上通过磁控溅射法沉积一层银膜。利用纳米球光刻技术,去掉PS球模板得到二维正方点阵排列的准正方形银纳米颗粒阵列结构。     

Template synthesis of nanostructured silica with hollow core and mesoporous shell structures

Silica capsules with hollow macroporous core–mesoporous shell (HCMS) were synthesized through template-assisted replication of submicrometer-size polystyrene spheres as templates. The silica mesoporous shell exhibited highly ordered hexagonal structure as confirmed by X-ray diffraction pattern and TEM image. The pore diameter and BET surface area of this sample were found to be 2.1 nm and 1387 m²/g, respectively.     

Silver‐coated inverse opals formed from polystyrene spheres for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering

We have developed a new substrate for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements involving a thin silver layer deposited over an ion‐etched TiO₂ inverse opal. The latter is formed by chemically infiltrating a polystyrene opal array with TiO₂ followed by a thermal decomposition of the spheres. The SERS response of the these substrates is examined for several sphere sizes and lasers wavelengths; the results show that such substrates yield high enhance factors, comparable to substrates involving a silver layer deposited directly on a polystyrene opal array. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantification of the reduced scattering coefficient and phase-function-dependent parameter γ of turbid media using multidiameter single fiber reflectance spectroscopy: experimental validation

Multidiameter single fiber reflectance (MDSFR) spectroscopy is a method that allows the quantification of μs' and the phase-function-dependent parameter γ of a turbid medium by utilizing multiple fibers with different diameters. We have previously introduced the theory behind MDSFR and its limitations, and here we present an experimental validation of this method based on phantoms containing a fractal distribution of polystyrene spheres both in the absence and presence of the absorber Evans Blue.