Katarzyna Szot

Self-powered biosensor for ascorbic acid with a Prussian blue electrochromic display

We report on the development of a nanocarbon based anode for sensing of ascorbic acid (AA). The oxidation of AA on this anode occurs at a quite low overpotential which enables the anode to be connected to a biocathode to form an ascorbic acid/O2 biofuel cell that functions as a self-powered biosensor. In conjunction with a Prussian blue electrochromic display the anode can also work as a truly self-powered sensor. The oxidation of ascorbic acid at the anode leads to a reduction of the Prussian blue in the display. The reduced form of Prussian blue, called Prussian white, is transparent. The rate of change from blue to colourless is dependent on the concentration of ascorbic acid. The display can easily be regenerated by connecting it to the biocathode which returns the Prussian blue to its oxidized form. In this way we have created the first self-powered electrochromic sensor that gives quantitative information about the analyte concentration. This is demonstrated by measuring the concentration of ascorbic acid in orange juice. The reported quantitative read-out electrochromic display can serve as a template for the creation of cheap, miniturizable sensors for other relevant analytes.

Antibody modified gold nanoparticles for fast and selective, colorimetric T7 bacteriophage detection.

Herein, we report a colorimetric immunosensor for T7 bacteriophage based on gold nanoparticles modified with covalently bonded anti-T7 antibodies. The new immunosensor allows for a fast, simple, and selective detection of T7 virus. T7 virions form immunological complexes with the antibody modified gold nanoparticles which causes them to aggregate. The aggregation can be observed with the naked eye as a color change from red to purple, as well as with a UV-vis spectrophotometer. The aggregate formation was confirmed with SEM imaging. Sensor selectivity against the M13 bacteriophage was demonstrated. The limit of detection (LOD) is 1.08 × 10(10) PFU/mL (18 pM) T7. The new method was compared with a traditional plaque test. In contrast to biological tests the colorimetric method allows for detection of all T7 phages, not only those biologically active. This includes phage ghosts and fragments of virions. T7 virus has been chosen as a model organism for adenoviruses. The described method has several advantages over the traditional ones. It is much faster than a standard plaque test. It is more robust since no bacteria-virus interactions are utilized in the detection process. Since antibodies are available for a large variety of pathogenic viruses, the described concept is very flexible and can be adapted to detect many different viruses, not only bacteriophages. Contrary to the classical immunoassays, it is a one-step detection method, and no additional amplification, e.g., enzymatic, is needed to read the result.