Maria Guix

Micromotor Enhanced Microarray Technology for Protein Detection

MINECO through MAT2011–25870 project and E.U. through FP7 “NADINE” project (contract number 246513) have funded this research. M. G. thanks MINECO for the pre-doctoral fellowship (BES-2009–023939). E. M-N. thanks funding from CONACYT (Mexico) through a fellowship grant.

Bismuth nanoparticles for phenolic compounds biosensing application

The rapid determination of trace phenolic compounds is of great importance for evaluating the total toxicity of contaminated water samples. Nowadays, electrochemical tyrosinase (Tyr) based biosensors constitute a promising technology for the in situ monitoring of phenolic compounds because of their advantages such as high selectivity, low production cost, promising response speed, potential for miniaturization, simple instrumentation and easy automatization. A mediator-free amperometric biosensor for phenolic compounds detection based on the combination of bismuth nanoparticles (BiNPs) and Tyr for phenol detections will be hereby reported. This is achieved through the integration of BiNPs/Tyr onto the working electrode of a screen printed electrode (SPE) by using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent. BiNPs/Tyr biosensor is evaluated by amperometric measurements at -200 mV DC and a linear range of up to 71 μM and 100 μM and a correlation coefficient of 0.995 and 0.996 for phenol and catechol, respectively. The very low DC working potential ensures the avoidance of interferences making this biosensor an advantageous device for real sample applications. In addition, the response mechanism including the effect of BiNPs based on electrochemical studies and optical characterizations will be also discussed. The obtained results may open the way to many other BiNPs applications in the biosensing field.

Enzyme entrapment by β-cyclodextrin electropolymerization onto a carbon nanotubes-modified screen-printed electrode

A novel enzyme entrapment approach based on an electropolymerization process utilizing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and glucose oxidase (GOx) is shown. Dopamine (DA) quantification is presented using a screen-printed electrode modified by electropolymerization of cyclodextrin with glucose oxidase, SPE/MWCNT/β-CD-GOx. In order to show the relevance of the enzyme entrapment strategy controlled by electropolymerization to develop a specific and efficient biosensor, the various parts composing the electrode: SPE, SPE/β-CD, SPE/GOx, SPE/β-CD/GOx, SPE/MWCNT/β-CD, SPE/MWCNT/GOx and SPE/MWCNT/β-CD/GOx were tested separately. It was shown that although DA determination can be achieved with all of them, the electrodes modified with MWCNT presented better analytical features that those built without MWCNT, the best being the one including all components. This biosensor displayed good reproducibility, repeatability, and prolonged life-time under cold storage conditions. Its DA limit of detection (LOD) was 0.48±0.02 μA in a linear range of 10-50 μM with a sensitivity of 0.0302±0.0003 μA μM(-1) that makes it comparable or even better than many other electrodes reported in the literature. Moreover, it was also shown that using this electrode, DA quantification can be done in the presence of interfering agents such as ascorbic and uric acid. These findings demonstrate that the approach employed is feasible for enzyme entrapment and may find applications in other biosensing systems, where better sensitivity, stability and fast response are required.

Carbonate-based Janus micromotors moving in ultra-light acidic environment generated by HeLa cells in situ

Novel approaches to develop naturally-induced drug delivery in tumor environments in a deterministic and controlled manner have become of growing interest in recent years. Different polymeric-based microstructures and other biocompatible substances have been studied taking advantage of lactic acidosis phenomena in tumor cells, which decrease the tumor extracellular pH down to 6.8. Micromotors have recently demonstrated a high performance in living systems, revealing autonomous movement in the acidic environment of the stomach or moving inside living cells by using acoustic waves, opening the doors for implementation of such smart microengines into living entities. The need to develop biocompatible motors which are driven by natural fuel sources inherently created in biological systems has thus become of crucial importance. As a proof of principle, we here demonstrate calcium carbonate Janus particles moving in extremely light acidic environments (pH 6.5), whose motion is induced in conditioned acidic medium generated by HeLa cells in situ. Our system not only obviates the need for an external fuel, but also presents a selective activation of the micromotors which promotes their motion and consequent dissolution in presence of a quickly propagating cell source (i.e. tumor cells), therefore inspiring new micromotor configurations for potential drug delivery systems.

Compact microcubic structures platform based on self-assembly Prussian blue nanoparticles with highly tuneable conductivity

Control of molecular and supramolecular properties is used to obtain a new advanced hybrid material based on Prussian blue nanoparticles (PB NPs). This hybrid material is obtained through a self-assembled Layer-by-Layer (LbL) approach combining the advantageous features of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) polysaccharides, PB NPs and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) from electrostatic interaction between the deposited layers. Transmission electronic microscopy images suggested that PB NPs were protected by β-CD polysaccharides that prevent the aggregation phenomena. In addition, as confirmed by scanning electronic microscopy images, it was found that PB NPs are organized in microcubic supramolecular like structures via a mesoscale self-assembly process. Interestingly, the 3-bilayer {PAH/PB-CD} film exhibited a higher density of microcubic structures and a high electrochemical response with PB sites available for redox reactions at a supramolecular level. By utilizing fewer bilayers and consequently less material deposition, the formed {PAH/PB-CD} multilayer films of a tuneable conductivity can be expected to have interesting future applications for host-guest like dependent electrochemical biosensing designs.