The main causes for the deflection of microcantilevers embedded in micromechanical biodetection systems are investigated. The primary deflection due to the chemical reaction between the analyte molecules and the receptor coating, which produces surface stresses on the receptor side is analyzed. Oscillating flow conditions, which are the main source of turbulence, are found to produce substantia...

Optical phenomena such as fluorescence, phosphorescence, polarization, interference and non-linearity have been extensively used for biosensing applications. Optical waveguides (both planar and fiber-optic) are comprised of a material with high permittivity/high refractive index surrounded on all sides by materials with lower refractive indices, such as a substrate and the media to be sensed. T...

Near-infrared (NIR) luminescent Nd(3+)-doped nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted considerable attention in bioimaging and biodetection. Here, we demonstrate sub-6 nm NaGdF4:Nd(3+),Fe(3+) NPs as luminescent biolabels of hemin molecules that act as the exogenous electron carriers in microbial communities. Contrary to the severe quenching of the visible luminescence for either upconverting or downc...

Smart living is a trending lifestyle that envisions lower energy consumption, sound public services, and better quality of life for human being. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a compelling platform connecting various sensors around us to the Internet, providing great opportunities for the realization of smart living. Spintronic sensors with superb measuring ability and multiple unique advantag...

Biosensors based on intrinsic detection methods have attracted growing interest. The use of Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy with the attenuated internal total reflection (ATR) mode, in the biodetection context, requires appropriate surface functionalization of the ATR optical element. Here, we report the direct grafting of a thin organic layer (about 20 A depth) on the surface o...

A validated, multigene-based method using real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and the Razor Ex BioDetection system was developed for detection of Phymatotrichopsis omnivora. This soilborne fungus causes Phymatotrichopsis root rot of cotton, alfalfa, and other dicot crops in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, leading to significant crop losses and limiting the range of crops that ...

In this study, we attempted to enrich neutrophilic iron bacteria in a microbial fuel cell (MFC)-type reactor in order to develop a lithotrophic MFC system that can utilize ferrous iron as an inorganic electron donor and operate at neutral pHs. Electrical currents were steadily generated at an average level of 0.6 mA (or 0.024 mA cm(-2) of membrane area) in reactors initially inoculated with mic...

Gold nanorods (AuNRs) have become some of the most used nanostructures for biosensing and imaging applications due to their plasmon-related optical response, which is highly sensitive toward minute changes in the AuNR aspect ratio. In this context, H2O2 has been used to trigger the chemical etching of AuNRs, thereby inducing a decrease of their aspect ratio. However, special conditions and rela...

This paper presents the experimental observation of piezoelectric generation from a single ZnO wire/belt for illustrating a fundamental process of converting mechanical energy into electricity at nanoscale. By deflecting a wire/belt using a conductive atomic force microscope tip in contact mode, the energy is first created by the deflection force and stored by piezoelectric potential, and later...