Publications

Nanomaterials for Nanotheranostics: Tuning Their Properties According to Disease Needs

Xin Yi Wong, Amadeo Sena-Torralba, Ruslan Álvarez-Diduk, Kasturi Muthoosamy, Arben Merkoçi. ACS Nano, 2020
Nanotheranostics is one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in nanomedicine. Most of the currently available diagnosis and therapies are invasive, time-consuming, and associated with severe toxic side effects. Nanotheranostics, on the other hand, has the potential to bridge this gap by harnessing the capabilities of nanotechnology...

Highly loaded mildly edge‐oxidized graphene nanosheet dispersions for large‐scale inkjet printing of electrochemical sensors

Bhawna Nagar, Milica Jović, Victor Costa Bassetto, Yingdi Zhu, Horst Pick, Pedro Gómez‐Romero, Arben Merkoçi, Hubert H Girault, Andreas Lesch. ChemElectroChem, Vol7(2):460-468
Inkjet printing of electrochemical sensors using a highly loaded mildly edge‐oxidized graphene nanosheet (EOGN) ink is presented. An ink with 30 mg/mL EOGNs is formulated in a mixture of N‐methyl pyrrolidone and propylene glycol with only 30 min of sonication. The absence of additives, such as polymeric stabilizers or surfactants,...

Selective Stamping of Laser Scribed rGO Nanofilms: From Sensing to Multiple Applications

Caterina Giacomelli, Ruslan Álvarez-Diduk, Anna Testolin, Arben Merkoçi. 2D Materials, 2020, Vol 7(2)
A rapid low-cost technology to produce highly conductive laser-scribed reduced-graphene oxide (rGO) thin films on flexible substrates is developed. Isolated rGO films, up to 30 nm thick and with a conductivity of 102 S m−1 are produced at room temperature in a three-step process: filtering the graphene oxide (GO) solution through...

Nano-lantern on paper for smartphone-based ATP detection

Maria Maddalena Calabretta, Ruslan Álvarez-Diduk, Elisa Michelini, Aldo Roda, Arben Merkoçi. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 2020, Vol 150, pp 1-8
ATP-driven bioluminescence relying on the D-luciferin-luciferase reaction is widely employed for several biosensing applications where bacterial ATP detection allows to verify microbial contamination for hygiene monitoring in hospitals, food processing and in general for cell viability studies. Several ATP kit assays are already...

Electrochromic Molecular Imprinting Sensor for Visual and Smartphone-Based Detections

Denise Capoferri, Ruslan Álvarez-Diduk, Michele del Carlo, Dario Compagnone, Arben Merkoçi. Analytical Chemistry, 2018, 90, 9, 5850-5856
Electrochromic effect and molecularly imprinted technology have been used to develop a sensitive and selective electrochromic sensor. The polymeric matrices obtained using the imprinting technology are robust molecular recognition elements and have the potential to mimic natural recognition entities with very high selectivity. The...

Fully printed one-step biosensing device using graphene/AuNPs composite

Bhawna Nagar, Marc Balsells, Alfredo de la Escosura-Muñiz, Pedro Gomez-Romero, Arben Merkoçi. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2019, Vol 129, pp 238-244
Driven by the growing need of simple, cost efficient and flexible sensing systems, we have designed here a fully printed Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) based impedimetric sensor for one step sensing of DNA. The DNA sensor was fabricated by stamping of layered rGO and rGO/gold nanoparticles/single stranded DNA (rGO/AuNPs/ssDNA) composites...

Iridium oxide (IV) nanoparticle-based lateral flow immunoassay

Daniel Quesada-González, Amadeo Sena-Torralba, Wiyogo Prio Wicaksono, Alfredo de la Escosura-Muñiz, Tribidasari A. Ivandini, Arben Merkoçi. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2019, Vol 132, pp 132-135,
Lateral flow biosensors are paper-based devices that allow the detection of different types of analytes with quickness, robustness, and selectivity, without leaving behind paper sensors benefits as low-cost, recyclability and sustainability. Nanomaterials have been widely reported in lateral flow biosensors, offering new sensing...

Signal enhancement on gold nanoparticle-based lateral flow tests using cellulose nanofibers

Daniel Quesada-González, Christina Stefani, Israel González, Alfredo de la Escosura-Muñiz, Neus Domingo, Pere Mutjé, Arben Merkoçi. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2019, Vol 141, pp 111407
Lateral flow paper-based biosensors merge as powerful tools in point-of-care diagnostics since they are cheap, portable, robust, selective, fast and easy to use. However, the sensitivity of this type of biosensors is not always as high as required, often not permitting a clear quantification. To improve the colorimetric response...

In Situ Plant Virus Nucleic Acid Isothermal Amplification Detection on Gold Nanoparticle-Modified Electrodes

Mohga Khater, Alfredo de la Escosura-Muñiz, Laura Altet, Arben Merkoçi. Analytical Chemistry, 2019, Vol 91 (7), pp 4790-4796
Solid-phase isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) offers many benefits over the standard RPA in homogeneous phase in terms of sensitivity, portability, and versatility. However, RPA devices reported to date are limited by the need for heating sources to reach sensitive detection. With the aim of overcoming such limitation,...

Production and printing of graphene oxide foam ink for electrocatalytic applications

Luis Baptista-Pires, Alfredo de la Escosura-Muñiz, Marc Balsells, Julio C. Zuaznabar-Gardona, Arben Merkoçi. Electrochemistry Communications, 2019, Vol 98, pp 6-9
A graphene-based ink printed as a foam-like structure with open pores is reported. The production of the ink is easier and faster than using existing methods and the obtained product is stable in water suspension. Electrocatalytic applications of 3D structured electrodes printed onto plastic substrates were explored. [Link to...