A new aptameric biosensor for cocaine based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy

The present study reports the proof of principle of a reagentless aptameric sensor based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy with "signal-on" architecture using a model target of cocaine. This new aptameric sensor is based on the conformational change of the surface-tethered aptamer on a binding target that draws a certain Raman reporter in close proximity to the SERS substrate, thereby increasing the Raman scattering signal due to the local enhancement effect of SERS. To improve the response performance, the sensor is fabricated from a cocaine-templated mixed self-assembly of a 3'-terminal tetramethylrhodamine (TMR)-labeled DNA aptamer on a silver colloid film by means of an alkanethiol moiety at the 5' end. This immobilization strategy optimizes the orientation of the aptamer on the surface and facilitates the folding on the binding target. Under optimized assay conditions, one can determine cocaine at a concentration of 1 muM, which compares favorably with analogous aptameric sensors based on electrochemical and fluorescence techniques. The sensor can be readily regenerated by being washed with a buffer. These results suggest that the SERS-based transducer might create a new dimension for future development of aptameric sensors for sensitive determination in biochemical and biomedical studies.     

Annealing effects on the morphology and luminescence of cubic boron nitride based ceramics

Cubic boron nitride based ceramics with silicon were sintered at 1350 °C under a pressure of 5.0 GPa. The effects of post-annealing on grain morphology, surface morphology, and photoluminescence of Si–cBN ceramics were investigated by scanning electron microscope and room temperature photoluminescence measurements. The results showed that the annealing treatment had great influence on cBN grain morphology, rather than the surface morphology. The luminescence intensity increased with annealing temperature and annealing time. The void-net structure formed by continuous distribution of SiO_x particulate on the ceramic surface resulted in the emission band peaking at about 701.2 nm, and the tense passivation of Si by SiO_x led to the peak's low intensity. The near ultraviolet emission band peaking at about 317 nm was attributed to the oxygen vacancies formed in cBN grain surface, caused by the scavenging of oxygen from the cBN grain surface by the added Si.     

Electrodeposited PbO2 thin film on Ti electrode for application in hybrid supercapacitor

PbO₂ thin films were prepared by pulse current technique on Ti substrate from Pb(NO₃)₂ plating solution. The hybrid supercapacitor was designed with PbO₂ thin film as positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as negative electrode in the 5.3 M H₂SO₄ solution. Its electrochemical properties were determined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), charge–discharge test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results revealed that the PbO₂/AC hybrid supercapacitor exhibited large specific capacitance, high-power and stable cycle performance. In the potential range of 0.8–1.8 V, the hybrid supercapacitor can deliver a specific capacitance of 71.5 F g^?1 at a discharge current density of 200 mA g^?1(4 mA cm^?2) when the mass ratio of AC to PbO₂ was three, and after 4500 deep cycles, the specific capacitance remains at 64.4 F g^?1, or 32.2 Wh Kg^?1 in specific energy, and the capacity only fades 10% from its initial value.     

Direct electrochemistry of myoglobin based on DNA accumulation on carbon ionic liquid electrode

Poly-anionic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was accumulated on the positively charged surface of carbon ionic liquid electrode (CILE) with N-butylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate (BPPF₆) as binder, and then myoglobin (Mb) was immobilized onto the DNA film by electrostatic interaction to form Mb/DNA/CILE electrode. The direct electrochemistry of Mb was then investigated in detail. A pair of well-defined, quasi-reversible cyclic voltammetric peaks of Mb was obtained with the formal potentials (E⁰′) at ?0.304 V (vs. SCE) in phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.0). The Mb/DNA/CILE electrode showed excellent electrocatalytic activity to H₂O₂ and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) in the range of 1.0–160 μmol/L and 0.5–40.0 mmol/L, respectively. The apparent Michaelis–Menten constants (K_M) toward H₂O₂ and TCA were calculated as 0.42 and 0.82 mmol/L. So, the DNA/CILE had potential to study other proteins.     

Synthesis of silica hollow spheres assisted by ultrasound

A simple and effective method for synthesizing silica hollow spheres is presented. The synthesis utilizes vesicles from oppositely charged surfactants sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and tetrapropylammonium bromide (TPAB) aqueous solution as template for the silica growth. Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) is added to the vesicular template as a precursor for the silica formation. Ultrasound was employed to accelerate the formation of vesicles template. The morphology of the silica spheres is uniform and well-defined (diameter: 200 nm-5 microm, wall thickness: 50 nm). The product was also characterized by FTIR, TG-DTA, N2 adsorption. TEM images reveal that the spheres have structure stability after calcinations at 550 degrees C.     

Controlled release properties of Chitosan encapsulated volatile Citronella Oil microcapsules by thermal treatments

This research uses modified orifice method to prepare the O/W type Chitosan encapsulated volatile Citronella Oil microcapsules. In this article, we investigated the forming condition of microcapsules and the influence to sustained release effect of volatile Citronella Oil by applying thermal pretreatment to microcapsules. The results suggest that the forming of microcapsules should be processed under the fundamental conditions of: (1) the concentration of Chitosan is at least 0.2 wt%, (2) NaOH is greater than 0.1 wt%, and (3) with the additive of coconut oil as natural surfactant, so that we could obtain final product of microcapsules with better formation and dispersion. The changes in concentration of Chitosan will affect the encapsulation efficiency of the volatile Citronella Oil. When the concentrations of Chitosan are 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%, the encapsulation efficiencies are 98.2%, 95.8% and 94.7%, respectively. The particle size of Chitosan microcapsules would decrease as the emulsification stirring speed increases. When the stirring speeds are 400 rpm, 800 rpm, and 1500 rpm, the average particle sizes of microcapsules produced are 225 ± 24 μm, 131 ± 20 μm, and 11 ± 3 μm, respectively. If the microcapsules were thermal pretreated at 80 °C, the structure of Chitosan wall membrane would shrink and thus achieve the effect of sustained release. The sustaining effect would increase along with treatment time increases.     

Studies on the self-assembly behavior of the amphiphilic block copolymer of PSt-b-PAA in apolar solvents with polar fluorescent probe

The block copolymer of polystyrene-b-poly(butyl acrylate) (PSt-b-PBA) with a well-defined structure was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP); its structure was characterized, and the living polymerization was also validated by gel permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared, and ¹H NMR measurements. Then, the amphiphilic block copolymer of polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid) (PSt-b-PAA) has been prepared by hydrolysis of PSt-b-PBA, and copolymers of PSt-b-PAA with longer PSt blocks and shorter PAA blocks were obtained by controlling the conditions of ATRP polymerization. The reversed micelle solution of PSt-b-PAA in toluene was prepared by using the single-solvent dissolving method, and the reverse micellization behavior of PSt-b-PAA in toluene was mainly investigated in this paper. The fluorescent probe technique was used by using polar fluorescence compound N-(1-Naphthyl)ethylenediamine dihydrochloride (NEAH) as a polar fluorescent probe to study the reverse micellization behavior of PSt-b-PAA. It was found that the reverse micellization behaviors of PSt-b-PAA in toluene can be clearly revealed by using NEAH as a polar fluorescence probe, and the critical micelle concentrations (cmcs) can be well displayed. The experimental results showed that the self-assembling behavior of PSt-b-PAA in toluene depends apparently on the microstructure of the macromolecules and is also influenced by the temperature. For the copolymers of PSt-b-PAA with the same length of hydrophobic PSt blocks, the copolymer with a longer hydrophilic block PAA has lower cmc, and at higher temperature, the copolymer has lower cmc.     

烯丙基硅烷的一步法合成研究

采用一步合成方式,将3-溴丙烯与金属镁在以甲苯和供电子溶剂(乙醚或THF)构成的混合溶剂中进行反应,继而与四氯化硅反应,成功合成了四烯丙基硅烷,其产率在乙醚与3-溴丙烯的摩尔比为4(V甲苯/V乙醚=1·1)时达到极值,超过了91%。研究同时发现,选择THF代替乙醚时,同样在THF与3-溴丙烯的摩尔比为4(V甲苯/VTHF=1·7)时产率达到极值(63·12%)。本过程可提高产率,降低成本,是一条好的生产四烯丙基硅烷的路线。     

抗坏血酸和尿酸在胶束体系中的电化学行为及选择性测定的应用

以玻碳电极为工作电极,在PBS中用循环伏安法研究了抗坏血酸(AA)和尿酸(UA)在胶束体系中的电化学行为。在溴化十六烷基吡啶(CPB)胶束体系中,AA和UA的氧化峰电流增加,峰电位负移;在十二烷基苯磺酸钠(SDBS)胶束体系中,AA和UA的氧化峰电流减小,峰电位正移。在CPB中,AA和UA的氧化峰电位相差约270 mV,以此建立了AA和UA的同时测定方法。用微分脉冲伏安法测定AA和UA的氧化峰电流分别在1.0×10-6~1.0×10-2mol/L和5.0×10-7~1.0×10-3mol/L的范围内与各自的浓度范围呈良好的线性关系。在200倍AA共存时UA的检出限为5.0×10-6mol/L。此方法可应用于人体尿样中UA的测定,结果令人满意。     

量子点标记链霉亲和素及其生物活性检测

选用无机盐为前驱体,在水相中合成CdTe量子点,并用此量子点标记链霉亲和素,通过SephadexG-100层析分离纯化量子点标记的链霉亲和素,采用磁颗粒标记的链霉亲和素与量子点标记的链霉亲和素竞争结合辣根过氧化酶标记的生物素,即酶联免疫竞争抑制分析法检测链霉亲和素标记量子点后的生物活性,计算约70.3%的链霉亲和素标记到量子点上,且具有生物活性。每毫克量子点大约可偶联0.14 mg的链霉亲和素。采用荧光光谱研究量子点标记前后的荧光变化,标记后量子点的最大发射波长蓝移了8 nm,而发射光谱的半峰宽基本不变,说明量子点与链霉亲和素结合后粒子没有团聚,分散性好。