There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

12.2.2. Four-Wave Mixing (FWM) 4849 12.2.3. Dye Aggregation 4850 12.2.4. Optoelectronic Nanodevices 4850 12.3. Sensor 4851 12.3.1. Chemical Sensor 4851 12.3.2. Biological Sensor 4851 12.4. Catalysis 4852 13. Conclusion and Perspectives 4852 14. Abbreviations 4853 15. Acknowledgements 4854 16. References 4854 * Corresponding author E-mail: tpal@chem.iitkgp.ernet.in. † Raidighi College. § Indian Institute of Technology. 4797 Chem. Rev. 2007, 107, 4797−4862

Interparticle Coupling Effect on the Surface Plasmon Resonance of Gold Nanoparticles: From Theory to Applications

Nanomaterials, such as metal or semiconductor nanoparticles and nanorods, exhibit similar dimensions to those of biomolecules, such as proteins (enzymes, antigens, antibodies) or DNA. The integration of nanoparticles, which exhibit unique electronic, photonic, and catalytic properties, with biomaterials, which display unique recognition, catalytic, and inhibition properties, yields novel hybrid nanobiomaterials of synergetic properties and functions. This review describes recent advances in the synthesis of biomolecule-nanoparticle/nanorod hybrid systems and the application of such assemblies in the generation of 2D and 3D ordered structures in solutions and on surfaces. Particular emphasis is directed to the use of biomolecule-nanoparticle (metallic or semiconductive) assemblies for bioanalytical applications and for the fabrication of bioelectronic devices.

Integrated Nanoparticle–Biomolecule Hybrid Systems: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications

Molecular imprinting technology (MIT), often described as a method of making a molecular lock to match a molecular key, is a technique for the creation of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with tailor-made binding sites complementary to the template molecules in shape, size and functional groups. Owing to their unique features of structure predictability, recognition specificity and application universality, MIPs have found a wide range of applications in various fields. Herein, we propose to comprehensively review the recent advances in molecular imprinting including versatile perspectives and applications, concerning novel preparation technologies and strategies of MIT, and highlight the applications of MIPs. The fundamentals of MIPs involving essential elements, preparation procedures and characterization methods are briefly outlined. Smart MIT for MIPs is especially highlighted including ingenious MIT (surface imprinting, nanoimprinting, etc.), special strategies of MIT (dummy imprinting, segment imprinting, etc.) and stimuli-responsive MIT (single/dual/multi-responsive technology). By virtue of smart MIT, new formatted MIPs gain popularity for versatile applications, including sample pretreatment/chromatographic separation (solid phase extraction, monolithic column chromatography, etc.) and chemical/biological sensing (electrochemical sensing, fluorescence sensing, etc.). Finally, we propose the remaining challenges and future perspectives to accelerate the development of MIT, and to utilize it for further developing versatile MIPs with a wide range of applications (650 references).

http://ir.yic.ac.cn/bitstream/133337/17045/1/Molecular%20imprinting%20perspectives%20and%20applications.pdf

Molecular imprinting: perspectives and applications

Molecular imprinting technology (MIT) concerns formation of selective sites in a polymer matrix with the memory of a template. Recently, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have aroused extensive attention and been widely applied in many fields, such as solid-phase extraction, chemical sensors and artificial antibodies owing to their desired selectivity, physical robustness, thermal stability, as well as low cost and easy preparation. With the rapid development of MIT as a research hotspot, it faces a number of challenges, involving biological macromolecule imprinting, heterogeneous binding sites, template leakage, incompatibility with aqueous media, low binding capacity and slow mass transfer, which restricts its applications in various aspects. This critical review briefly reviews the current status of MIT, particular emphasis on significant progresses of novel imprinting methods, some challenges and effective strategies for MIT, and highlighted applications of MIPs. Finally, some significant attempts in further developing MIT are also proposed (236 references).

http://ir.yic.ac.cn/bitstream/133337/4853/1/Recent%20advances%20in%20molecular%20imprinting%20technology%20current%20status%2c%20challenges%20and%20highlighted%20applications.pdf

Recent advances in molecular imprinting technology: current status, challenges and highlighted applications

We developed a simple method for highly ordered assemblies of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) along DNA molecules on substrates, and achieved assemblies with well-aligned and long-range order by using well-stretched DNA templates. In addition, oxidized aniline-capped AuNPs (AN−AuNPs) prepared in this study were strongly attached to DNA. Two different assembly methods were carried out, and consequently continuous depositions and necklace-like depositions of AN−AuNPs along DNA molecules were achieved.

Highly Ordered Assemblies of Au Nanoparticles Organized on DNA

Review: Micro- and nanosized molecularly imprinted polymers for high-throughput analytical applications

A label-free high-resolution DNA sensing technique using a nanogapped gold particle film is presented to acquire nucleotide polymorphism information, which can be read by electronic protocols.

Label-free electronic detection of DNA-hybridization on nanogapped gold particle film.

Specific identification of bacteria has been achieved through precisely transferred bacterial structure on the surface of overoxidized polypyrrole (OPPy) film. The recognition of target bacteria was successfully carried out in real time using OPPy film in combination with dielectrophoresis. The unique combination of both techniques made the specific detection of template bacilli possible at concentrations as low as 103 CFU/mL within 3 min, without any bacterial pretreatment. The observation of the movement of bacteria by using a fluorescent microscope revealed that living bacteria were being trapped vertically in the cavity created in the OPPy film. Further, the bacterial cavities had high selectivity and were able to discriminate particular target bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, out of bacterial mixtures containing Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Escherichia coli, and Serratia marcescens, which are known to have a similar shape. This simple method can be used for a wide variety of applications in which ra...

Shiho Tokonami

Papers

Highly Ordered Assemblies of Au Nanoparticles Organized on DNA

Review: Micro- and nanosized molecularly imprinted polymers for high-throughput analytical applications

Label-free electronic detection of DNA-hybridization on nanogapped gold particle film.

Label-Free and Selective Bacteria Detection Using a Film with Transferred Bacterial Configuration

Synthesis and bioanalytical applications of specific-shaped metallic nanostructures: a review.