A new nanocomposite fluorescence probe with thioglycolic acid (TA) functional layers embedded inside the hydroxyapatite nanoribbon spherulites has been synthesized. The fluorescence intensity of the novel probe is about 1.5-3.3-fold increase compared with the probe containing no TA. When used to detect cadmium ion, the most of original assembly nanoribbon spherulites structure in the novel prob...

We have constructed a fast-responsive fluorescent gold ion probe based on the unexpected gold ion-mediated hydrolysis of acylsemicarbazides to carboxylic acids. The probe has been applied for sensing gold ions in the living cells and detecting residual gold content in gold-catalyzed synthetic samples for the first time.

Recent progress in atom probe field ion microscopy (APFIM) and its applications to nanoscale microstructural studies of metallic materials are reviewed. By employing a three dimensional atom probe (3DAP), it is possible to map out elemental distributions in the real space with almost an atomic resolution, and chemical analysis of interfaces and nanoparticles can be made with improved accuracy i...

Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy, it’s development, design and use are introduced. The theory behind modelling ion current flow into the SICM probe tip and the problems involved with analytically modelling the current flow are then briefly discussed. A numerical simulation using the Finite Difference Method is then used to model the current flow as the microscope probe tip approaches a flat ...

In drug discovery, there is a clear and urgent need for detection of cell-membrane ion-channel operation with wide-field capability. Existing techniques are generally invasive or require specialized nanostructures. We show that quantum nanotechnology could provide a solution. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in nanodiamond is of great interest as a single-atom quantum probe for nanoscale proces...