Sol-gel derived silica possess many promising features, including low-temperature preparation procedure, porosity, chemical and physical stability. Applications exploiting porous materials to encapsulate sensor molecules, enzymes and many other compounds, are developing rapidly. In this paper some potential applications, with emphasis on biomedical and environmental ones, are reviewed. The material preparation procedure is described and practical remarks on silica-based sol-gels are included. It is reported that sol-gels with entrapped various molecules may be used in construction of implants and coatings with bioactive properties. It is shown how to exploit the sol-gel production route for construction of sol-gel coated fiberoptic applicators for lasertherapy. The applications of bioactive materials are discussed, as well. It is demonstrated that it is possible to immobilize photosensitive compounds in sol-gel matrix without loosing their photoactivity. Some examples of sol-gel based biosensors are demonstrated, as well, showing their potential for detecting various gases, toxic substances, acidity, humidity, enzymes and biologically active agents.
In environmental matrices there are mixtures of parent drug and its metabolites. The majority of research is focused on the biological activity and toxic effect of diclofenac (DCF), there is little research on the biological activity of DCF metabolites and their mixtures. The study focused on the assessment of the biological impact of DCF, its metabolites 4’-hydroxydiclofenac (4’-OHDCF) and 5-hydroxydiclofenac (5-OHDCF) and their mixtures on E. coli strains. The biological effects of tested chemicals were evaluated using the following: E. coli K-12 cells viability assay, the inhibition of bacteria culture growth, ROS (reactive oxygene species) generation and glutathione (GSH) content estimation. Moreover, we examined the influence of the mixture of DCF with caffeic acid (CA) on E. coli cells viability. Our results showed the strongest impact of the mixtures of DCF with 4’-OHDCF and 5-OHDCF on E. coli SM biosensor strains in comparison to parent chemicals. Similar results were obtained in viability test, where we noticed the highest reduction in E. coli cell viability after bacteria incubation with the mixtures of DCF with 4’-OHDCF and 5-OHDCF. Similarly, these mixtures strongly inhibited the growth of E. coli culture. We also found synergistic effect of caffeic acid in combination with DCF on E. coli cells viability. After bacteria treatment with the mixture of DCF and its metabolites we also noted the strongest amount of ROS generation and GSH depletion in E. coli culture. It suggests that oxidative stress is the most important mechanism underlying the activity of DCF and its metabolites.
A highly sensitive photonic crystal fiber based on the surface plasmon resonance (PCF-SPR) biosensor for the detection of the density alteration in non-physiological cells (DANCE) is described. Human acute leukemia cells are determined by the discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation (DSGC) in which the cells are separated into several bands. The separated cells with different intracellular densities and refractive indexes (RI) ranging from 1.3342 to 1.3344 are distinguished in situ by means of the differential transmission spectrum. The biosensor shows a maximum amplitude sensitivity of 2000 nm/RIU and resolution as high as 5 × 10−5 RIU. According to the wavelength interrogation method, a maximum spectral sensitivity of 9000 nm/RIU in the sensing range between 1.33 and 1.53 is achieved, corresponding to a resolution as high as 1.11 × 10−5 RIU for the biosensor. The proposed PCF-SPR biosensor has promising application in biological and biochemical detection.
An useful electrochemical sensing approach was developed for norepinephrine (NE) detection based on semiconducting polymer (9-nonyl-2,7-di(selenophen-2-yl)- 9H-carbazole) and laccase modified platinum electrode (Pt). The miniature Pt biosensor was designed and constructed via the immobilization of laccase in an electroactive layer of the electrode coated with thin polymeric film. This sensing arrangement utilized the catalytic oxidation of NE to norepinephrine quinone. The detection process was based on the oxidation of catecholamine in the presence of enzyme – laccase. With the optimized conditions, the analytical performance demonstrated selectivity in a wide linear range (0.1–200x10-6 M) with a detection limit of 240 nM and a quantification limit of 365 nM. Moreover, the method was successfully applied for selective NE determination in the presence of interfering substances.
Two highly sensitive optical sensor topologies are proposed and simulated in this paper. The proposed structures are optimized to provide better performance characteristics such as sensitivity, detection limit, and quality factor. They are based on two-dimensional photonic crystals consisting of rectangular arrays of GaAs rods in SiO2 substrates. Such lattices have bandgaps for transverse magnetic modes. Two-dimensional finite difference time domain and plane wave expansion methods are used for the simulation and analysis of the refractive index sensors and particle swarm optimization method is used to optimize the structural parameters. The designed structures show a high sensitivity to refractive index variations. They are able to detect refractive indices from 1.33 to 1.5. An excellent figure of merit equal to 737 RIU−1 is observed for the proposed structure and a significant improvement is observed compared to the structures reported in the literature.
Biosensors are a crucial part of most of bioanalytical diagnostic devices and systems. Due to semiconductor technologies, a great progress in diminution of costs and miniaturisation as well as an increased reliability of these devices was achieved. Application of
molecular and biological techniques in the detection process has contributed to a real increase in sensitivity, selectivity, the detection limit and the number of analytes to be detected. Different transducers of chemical parameters into electrical output signals are applied in these devices. Electrochemical principles, both potentiometric and amperometric, are opted for due to their simplicity of application and extremely low costs of such biosensors. Ion sensitive field effect transistors (ISFETs) may be easily integrated into the required electronics, resulting in their miniaturisation. Further miniaturisation may be attained by development of miniaturised total analytical systems (uTAS). To ensure competitive parameters of these biosensors, optimal methods of immobilisation of biochemical receptors (ionophores, enzymes, antibodies, etc.) should be developed. A review of the work by the authors related to these problems is presented in the article.
In this paper, the authors analyse the propagation of surface Love waves in an elastic layered waveguide (elastic guiding layer deposited on an elastic substrate) covered on its surface with a Newtonian liquid layer of finite thickness. By solving the equations of motion in the constituent regions (elastic substrate, elastic surface layer and Newtonian liquid) and imposing the appropriate boundary conditions, the authors established an analytical form of the complex dispersion equation for Love surface waves. Further, decomposition of the complex dispersion equation into its real and imaginary part, enabled for evaluation of the phase velocity and attenuation dispersion curves of the Love wave. Subsequently, the influence of the finite thickness of a Newtonian liquid on the dispersion curves was evaluated. Theoretical (numerical) analysis shows that when the thickness of the Newtonian liquid layer exceeds approximately four penetration depths 4δ of the wave in a Newtonian liquid, then this Newtonian liquid layer can be regarded as a semi-infinite half-space. The results obtained in this paper can be important in the design and optimization of ultrasonic Love wave sensors such as: biosensors, chemosensors and viscosity sensors. Love wave viscosity sensors can be used to assess the viscosity of various liquids, e.g. liquid polymers.