Publications

An integrated phenol ‘sensoremoval’ microfluidic nanostructured platform

Carmen C. Mayorga-Martinez, Lenka Hlavata, Sandrine Miserere, Adaris López-Marzo, Jan Labuda, Josefina Pons, Arben Merkoçi. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Volume 55, 15 May 2014, Pages 355–359
Phenol is a widely used chemical that for several reasons may be released into the environment and, consequently, its detection and subsequent destruction into the ground and surface waters are of special importance. Herein, a simple lab-on-a-chip (LOC) device based on biocompatible and biodegradable CaCO3– poly(ethyleneimine)...

On-chip magneto-immunoassay for Alzheimer’s biomarker electrochemical detection by using Quantum Dots as labels

Mariana Medina-Sánchez, Sandrine Miserere, Eden Morales-Nárvaez, Arben Merkoçi. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Volume 54, 15 April 2014, Pages 279–284
Electrochemical detection of cadmium-selenide/zinc-sulfide (CdSe@ZnS) quantum dots (QDs) as labeling carriers in an assay for apolipoprotein E (ApoE) detection has been evaluated. The immunocomplex was performed by using tosylactivated magnetic beads as preconcentration platform into a flexible hybrid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-polycarbonate...

Graphene Oxide as a Pathogen-Revealing Agent: Sensing with a Digital-Like Response

Eden Morales-Narvez, Abdel-Rahim Hassan, and Arben Merkoçi. Angwandte Chemie, Volume 52, Issue 51, December 16, 2013, pages 13779–13783
Turned ON by a pathogen: A highly sensitive pathogen-detection system has been designed and evaluated for the sensing of E. coli bacteria in diverse matrices. It employs antibody–quantum dot (Ab-QD) probes and exploits the extraordinary two-dimensional structure and fluorescence-quenching capabilities of graphene oxide. [Link to...

Deprotonation Mechanism and Acidity Constants in Aqueous Solution of Flavonols: a Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study

Ruslán Álvarez-Diduk, María Teresa Ramírez-Silva, Annia Galano, and Arben Merkoçi. J. Phys. Chem. B, 2013, 117 (41), pp 12347–12359
Four flavonols, namely quercetin, morin, kaempferol, and myricetin, were studied using spectrophotometry (UV–vis) in aqueous solution. The study was performed varying the pH to analyze the stability of these compounds, and to estimate their acidity constants. In addition, the deprotonation mechanisms were studied using computational...

Design, preparation and evaluation of a fixed-orientation antibody/gold nanoparticle conjugate as immunosensing label

Claudio Parolo , Alfredo de la Escosura-Muñiz , Ester Polo , Valeria Grazu , Jesús M. De La Fuente , and Arben Merkoçi. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2013, 5 (21), pp 10753–10759
Herein we describe the development of a new, highly efficient label for immunosensing, comprising an antibody/PEGylated gold nanoparticle (AuNP) conjugate in which the antibody molecules are bound to the AuNP surface in a fixed orientation. Our method exploits the high density of positive charges on the major plane of antibodies...

Gold nanoparticles decorated with a ferrocene derivative as a potential shift-based transducing system of interest for sensitive immunosensing

Abdelmoneim Mars, Claudio Parolo, Noureddine Raouafi, Khaled Boujlel and Arben Merkoçi. J. Mater. Chem. B, 2013,1, 2951-2955
The condensation of 1,1′-ferrocenedimethanol and lipoic acid yields a ferrocene derivative (FcD): 1,1′-ferrocenyl bis(methylene lipoic acid ester), a bipodant linker which was used to aggregate gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The FcD/AuNP aggregations displayed a very well-resolved signal related to the ferrocene oxidation to ferrocenium....

Screen-printed electrodes incorporated in a flow system for the decentralized monitoring of lead, cadmium and copper in natural and wastewater samples

Raquel Güell, Clàudia Fontàs, Gemma Aragay, Arben Merkoçi & Enriqueta Anticó. International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, 93 (8), 872-883 (2013)
Mercury-based screen-printed electrodes (SPE) combined with square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) techniques for the analysis of copper, cadmium, lead, and zinc in different water samples have been applied. The detection system has been implemented in a flow cell and different experimental conditions have been tested in...

Nanomaterials for bio-functionalized electrodes: recent trends

Alain Walcarius, Shelley D. Minteer, Joseph Wang, Yuehe Lin and Arben Merkoçi. J. Mater. Chem. B, 2013,1, 4878-4908
Recent years have faced stimulating developments in the functionalization of electrode surfaces with biological materials, notably due to the significant input of nanosciences and nanotechnology. In this review (over 450 references), we are discussing the interest of both nano-objects (metal nanoparticles and quantum dots, carbon...

Multifunctional system based on hybrid nanostructured-rods formation, for sensoremoval applications of Pb2+ as a model toxic metal.

Adaris Lopez-Marzo, Josefina Pons and Arben Merkoçi . J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013,1, 13532-13541
A new and simple multifunctional system based on hybrid calcite-poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) nanostructured rods (NRs) formation, that shows as proof-of-concept sensing and removal (sensoremoval concept) of Pb2+ as a model toxic metal for environmental applications has been developed. The addition of Na2CaEDTA and CO32- solutions to...

Nano-Assembled Supramolecular Films from Chitosan-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles and Cobalt(II) Phthalocyanine

Anna T. B. Silva; Andreane G. Coelho; Lourdes C. da S. Lopes; Marccus V. A. Martins; Frank N. Crespilho; Arben Merkoçi; Welter C. da Silva. J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 2013;24(8):1237-1245
How do gold nanoparticles can contributes to improve the charge transfer on supramolecular films? This paper shows that the nanoparticles effectively influence the kinetics of charge transfer in cobalt (II) phthalocyanine on a self-assembled surface. Details are presented in the Article Nano-Assembled Supramolecular Films from Chitosan-Stabilized...