A high-throughput homogeneous immunoassay based on Förster resonance energy transfer between quantum dots and gold nanoparticles

A novel homogeneous immunoassay based on Förster resonance energy transfer for sensitive detection of tumor, e.g., marker with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), was proposed. The assay was consisted of polyclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled luminescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as donor and monoclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as acceptor. In presence of CEA, the bio-affinity between antigen and antibody made the QDs and AuNPs close enough, thus the photoluminescence (PL) quenching of CdTe QDs occurred. The PL properties could be transformed into the fluorometric variation, corresponding to the target antigen concentration, and could be easily monitored and analyzed with the home-made image analysis software. The fluorometric results indicated a linear detection range of 1–110 ng mL⁻¹ for CEA, with a detection limit of 0.3 ng mL⁻¹. The proposed assay configuration was attractive for carcinoma screening or single sample in point-of-care testing, and even field use. In spite of the limit of available model analyte, this approach could be easily extended to detection of a wide range of biomarkers.     

Spontaneous formation of monodisperse vesicles near the cloud point of an aqueous amphiphilic system

 Monodisperse vesicular structures have been produced spontaneously from an almost structure-less aqueous amphiphilic system: water/di(ethylene glycol) mono-hexyl ether (C₆E₂)/sodium cholate. Individually, neither C₆E₂ nor the bile acid produces noticeable aggregate structures in an aqueous solution. However, the presence of small amounts of bile acid in the C₆E₂/water binary system is found to produce large microstructures, besides pushing the miscibility gap to higher temperatures. Dynamic light scattering studies indicate the presence of very monodisperse structures of sizes ranging from 15 to 50 nm in radii. The radii of these structures show strong dependence on the concentrations of the components and on the distance in temperature from the cloud point. For a given set of conditions the sizes are very stable and reproducible. Electron microscopy and conductivity measurements confirm these structures as vesicles. These may be formed due to the association of bile acid with C₆E₂ producing the geometrical parameters necessary for the formation of vesicles. Received: 23 January 1998 Accepted: 11 June 1998     

Kinetics of Membrane Flux Decline: The Role of Natural Colloids and Mitigation via Membrane Surface Modification

Applications of membrane technologies for potable water production have been expanding significantly, leading to increased efforts to control membrane fouling, which can significantly reduce membrane performance, increase operating costs, and shorten membrane life. Natural organic matter is ubiquitous in all water supplies and has been implicated as a major contributor to fouling during filtration of natural water. In this review, we discuss factors that influence NOM fouling, including hydrodynamics; properties of the feed constituents such as size, hydrophobicity, charge density and isoelectric point; properties of the membrane including hydrophobicity, charge density, surface roughness, and porosity; and properties of the solution phase such as pH, ionic strength and concentration of metals. We review approaches to identify and mathematically describe fouling kinetics, including effects of pore blockage, cake formation, and osmotic pressure. Finally, we discuss strategies to mitigate fouling, with a focus on strategies that involve a modification of the nanostructure of membrane surfaces, via UV-assisted graft polymerization of hydrophilic monomers to increase surface wettability and reduce interactions between NOM and the membrane surface.     

A MODEL FOR THE RELEASE BEHAVIOR OF DRUGS FROM HYDROGEL NANOPARTICLE

A model to correlate and predict the release behavior of drugs from hydrogel nanoparticles is presented in this paper. The nanoparticle is considered as a combination of a shell of an elastic semipermeable membrane and a core of a fluid phase (After swelling equilibrium). The fluid core consists of network building materials and other components that are able to partition in hydrogel nanoparticle phase and surrounding coexisting liquid phase, and is enveloped by the membrane shell. The excess Gibbs energies of the hydrogel nanoparticle phase and the surrounding coexisting fiuid phase are expressed e.g. using UNIQUAC equation with "free-volume" contribution for non-ionic solution and VERS-model for ionic one. The elastic properties of polymer network could be described, for example, by the "phantom network" theory.     

Lamellar multilayer hexadecylaniline-modified gold nanoparticle films deposited by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique

Organization of hexadecylaniline (HDA)-modified colloidal gold particles at the air-water interface and the formation thereafter of lamellar, multilayer films of gold nanoparticles by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique is described in this paper. Formation of HDA-capped gold nanoparticles is accomplished by a simple biphasic mixture experiment wherein the molecule hexadecylaniline present in the organic phase leads to electrostatic complexation and reduction of aqueous chloroaurate ions, capping of the gold nanoparticles thus formed and phase transfer of the now hydrophobic particles into the organic phase. Organization of gold nanoparticles at the air-water interface is followed by surface pressure—area isotherm measurements while the formation of multilayer films of the nanoparticles by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique is monitored by quartz crystal microgravimetry, UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy.     

用于SERS基底的Au-Pd核壳纳米颗粒和银纳米立方颗粒的制备及表征(英文)

本文研究了尺寸可控的Au -Pd核壳纳米粒子和银纳米立方颗粒的表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)活性。发现Au-Pd核壳纳米粒子的增强能力要比粗糙的钯电极强;银纳米立方颗粒的增强能力和粗糙的银电极相当。更为重要的是,银纳米立方颗粒既具有原子级平整的小单晶面又处于纳米尺度,因而它们可以作为粗糙表面和结构确定的单晶表面之间的桥梁,对其SERS效应的研究可以加深人们对SERS机理的认识。     

CoFe2O4纳米粒子的共振散射光谱研究

液相纳米粒子CoFe2O4在400，470，510，800和940nm产生五个共振散射峰。它是一种非线性光散射介质。当激发波长为330nm时，CoFe2O4纳米粒子分别在于330，660和990nm产生一个共振散射峰、一个1/2频散射峰和一个1/3分频散射峰；当激发波长为800nm时，在800nm产生一个共振散射峰，而在400nm产生一个较该共振散射峰更强的2倍频散射峰。分频散射和倍频散射与共振散射有相似的散射行为。根据建立的灰白粒子体系共振散射光谱原理定性解析了CoFe2O4纳米粒子体系的共振散射光谱。     

表面修饰的钛酸钡的拉曼光谱

采用水热法制得表面包裹有十二烷基苯磺酸(DBS)和硬脂酸(St)的BaTiO₃纳米粒子，平均粒径均为60nm左右.拉曼光谱检测结果表明，样品的确为表面包裹有表面活性剂(DBS或St)的BaTiO₃纳米粒子集合体.与未包裹的相比，各光学声子模对应的拉曼振动模式峰均发生了蓝移.还发现不同的包裹体，所导致的蓝移值也不同.从纳米粒子的表面结构及包裹层的压力出发对此现象进行了定性解释和讨论. 关键词： 拉曼光谱 3纳米粒子')" href="#">DBS/ BaTiO₃纳米粒子 蓝移