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Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors

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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanoelectronics, Nanosensors and Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2024) | Viewed by 14058

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yuan Gao

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Guest Editor

College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
Interests: chemiresistive gas sensors; fluorescent bio-sensors based on nano-carbon hybrids; new two-dimensional materials

Prof. Dr. Dongzhi Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

College of Control Science and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Interests: nanomaterials and nanotechnologies for sensors; micro/nano gas and humidity sensors; flexible and wearable electronics; quartz crystal microbalance-based sensors; electronic skin for tactile sensors; flexible strain/pressure sensors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Semiconductor electronics and photonics based on advanced nanomaterials and nanotechnologies have been the key driving force of micro/nano-sensors. Nowadays, with the development of high-speed data communication, the growing demand for micro/nano-sensors presents unprecedented opportunities and challenges. In the building of Smart Cities, micro/nano-sensors are the essential component of the Internet of Things (IoT) and encounter high demand for their categories, performance, application scenarios, etc. Various sensors are needed for different application fields, such as environmental pollution monitoring, hazardous chemical spill warning, early disease diagnosis, and healthcare reminders. Measurement accuracy is vital for some practical applications. Thus, excellent sensing performance is required for the sensors to hit these metrics.

Rational design for advanced nanomaterials is a promising solution for fabricating sensors and enhancing their sensing performance. The advanced technologies, including crystal facet controlling, vacancies regulation, morphology design and controllable assembling of individual nanomaterials, and hetero-integration of multi-composition, multi-structure and multi-function at the nanoscale, would create a new generation of integrated micro/nano-sensors with unprecedented performance or unique functions to break the boundaries of traditional technologies.

The Special Issue “Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors” seeks papers on chemical/biological sensors based on the electrical or optical properties of advanced novel nanomaterials. Authors are invited to submit articles focused on trace detection, selective enhancement, fast response, and other aspects. Papers on the characterization and evaluation of sensing performance or the completion of sensing mechanistic discussions of experimental phenomena will also be very well received.

Prof. Dr. Yuan Gao
Prof. Dr. Dongzhi Zhang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

chemical gas sensor
fluorescent bio-sensor
electrochemical bio-sensor
novel nanomaterials
2D materials
hybrids
hetero-integration
surface and interface design
vacancies modulation
trace detection
fast response/recovery
selectivity enhancement
DFT calculation

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 5407 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ag₂S-Decorated One-Dimensional CdS Nanorods for Rapid Detection and Effective Discrimination of n-Butanol

by Yubing Gao, Weirong Zhou, Yong Wang, Yuan Gao, Jiayin Han, Dehao Kong and Geyu Lu

Nanomaterials 2024, 14(5), 394; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14050394 - 21 Feb 2024

Viewed by 558

Abstract

N-butanol (C₄H₉OH) is a volatile organic compound (VOC) that is susceptible to industrial explosions. It has become imperative to develop n-butanol sensors with high selectivity and fast response and recovery kinetics. CdS/Ag₂S composite nanomaterials were designed and prepared by the solvothermal method. The incorporation of Ag₂S engendered a notable augmentation in specific surface area and a consequential narrow band gap. The CdS/Ag₂S-based sensor with 3% molar ratio of Ag₂S, operating at 200 °C, demonstrated a remarkably elevated response (S = R_a/R_g = 24.5) when exposed to 100 ppm n-butanol, surpassing the pristine CdS by a factor of approximately four. Furthermore, this sensor exhibited notably shortened response and recovery times, at a mere 4 s and 1 s, respectively. These improvements were ascribed to the one-dimensional single-crystal nanorod structure of CdS, which provided an effective path for expedited electron transport along its axial dimension. Additionally, the electron and chemical sensitization effects resulting from the modification with precious metal sulfides Ag₂S were the primary reasons for enhancing the sensor response. This work can contribute to mitigating the safety risks associated with the use of n-butanol in industrial processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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14 pages, 60654 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Broadband-Tunable Vanadium Dioxide (VO₂)-Based Linear Optical Cavity Sensor

by Rana M. Armaghan Ayaz, Amin Balazadeh Koucheh and Kursat Sendur

Nanomaterials 2024, 14(4), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14040328 - 07 Feb 2024

Viewed by 817

Abstract

Sensors fabricated by using a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform provide promising solutions to issues such as size, power consumption, wavelength-specific nature of end reflectors and difficulty to detect ternary mixture. To address these limitations, we proposed and investigated a broadband-thermally tunable vanadium dioxide (VO₂)-based linear optical cavity sensor model using a finite element method. The proposed structure consists of a silicon wire waveguide on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform terminated with phase-change vanadium oxide (VO₂) on each side to provide light confinement. A smooth transmission modulation range of 0.8 (VO₂ in the insulator state) and 0.03 (VO₂ in the conductive phase state) in the 125 to 230 THz spectral region was obtained due to the of Fabry–Pérot (FP) effect. For the 3.84 μm cavity length, the presented sensor resulted in a sensitivity of 20.2 THz/RIU or 179.56 nm/RIU, which is approximately two orders of magnitude higher than its counterparts in the literature. The sensitivity of the 2D model showed direct relation with the length of the optical cavity. Moreover, the change in the resonating mode line width

Δ ν

of approximately 6.94 THz/RIU or 59.96 nm/RIU was also observed when the sensor was subjected to the change of the imaginary part k of complex refractive index (RI). This property of the sensor equips it for the sensing of aternary mixture without using any chemical surface modification. The proposed sensor haspotential applications in the areas of chemical industries, environmental monitoring and biomedical sensing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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14 pages, 3281 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and NO₂ Sensing Properties of In₂O₃ Micro-Flowers Composed of Nanorods

by Zhenyu Wang, Haizhen Ding, Xuefeng Liu and Jing Zhao

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(16), 2289; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13162289 - 09 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 852

Abstract

Semiconductor oxide gas sensors have important applications in environmental protection, domestic health, and other fields. Research has shown that designing the morphology of sensitive materials can effectively improve the sensing characteristics of sensors. In this paper, by controlling the solvothermal reaction time, a unique hexagonal flower-like structure of In₂O₃ materials consisting of cuboid nanorods with a side length of 100–300 nm was prepared. The characterization results indicated that with the increase in reaction time, the materials exhibited significant morphological evolution. When the solvent heating time is 5 h, the flower-like structure is basically composed of hexagonal nanosheets with a thickness of several hundred nanometers and a side length of several micrometers. With the increase in reaction time, the apex angles of the nano sheets gradually become obtuse, and, finally, with the Ostwald ripening process, they become cuboid nanorods with side lengths of 100–300 nanometers, forming unique micro-flowers. Among them, the material prepared with a reaction time of 20 h has good sensing performance for NO₂, exhibiting low operating temperature and detection limit, good selectivity, repeatability, and long-term stability, thus suggesting a good application prospect. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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21 pages, 3837 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Probing Polarity and pH Sensitivity of Carbon Dots in Escherichia coli through Time-Resolved Fluorescence Analyses

by Gilad Yahav, Shweta Pawar, Anat Lipovsky, Akanksha Gupta, Aharon Gedanken, Hamootal Duadi and Dror Fixler

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(14), 2068; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13142068 - 14 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1290

Abstract

Intracellular monitoring of pH and polarity is crucial for understanding cellular processes and functions. This study employed pH- and polarity-sensitive nanomaterials such as carbon dots (CDs) for the intracellular sensing of pH, polarity, and viscosity using integrated time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy (FA) imaging (TR-FAIM) and fluorescence lifetime (FLT) imaging microscopy (FLIM), thereby enabling comprehensive characterization. The functional groups on the surface of CDs exhibit sensitivity to changes in the microenvironment, leading to variations in fluorescence intensity (FI) and FLT according to pH and polarity. The FLT of CDs in aqueous solution changed gradually from 6.38 ± 0.05 ns to 8.03 ± 0.21 ns within a pH range of 2–8. Interestingly, a complex relationship of FI and FLT was observed during measurements of CDs with decreasing polarity. However, the FA and rotational correlation time (θ) increased from 0.062 ± 0.019 to 0.112 ± 0.023 and from 0.49 ± 0.03 ns to 2.01 ± 0.27 ns, respectively. This increase in FA and θ was attributed to the higher viscosity accompanying the decrease in polarity. Furthermore, CDs were found to bind to three locations in Escherichia coli: the cell wall, inner membrane, and cytoplasm, enabling intracellular characterization using FI and FA decay imaging. FLT provided insights into cytoplasmic pH (7.67 ± 0.48), which agreed with previous works, as well as the decrease in polarity in the cell wall and inner membrane. The CD aggregation was suspected in certain areas based on FA, and the θ provided information on cytoplasmic heterogeneity due to the aggregation and/or interactions with biomolecules. The combined TR-FAIM/FLIM system allowed for simultaneous monitoring of pH and polarity changes through FLIM and viscosity variations through TR-FAIM. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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13 pages, 3829 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wafer-Level Highly Dense Metallic Nanopillar-Enabled High-Performance SERS Substrates for Molecular Detection

by Pei Zeng, Mengjie Zheng, Hao Chen, Guanying Chen, Zhiwen Shu, Lei Chen, Huikang Liang, Yuting Zhou, Qian Zhao and Huigao Duan

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(11), 1733; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13111733 - 25 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1333

Abstract

Seeking sensitive, large-scale, and low-cost substrates is highly important for practical applications of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology. Noble metallic plasmonic nanostructures with dense hot spots are considered an effective construction to enable sensitive, uniform, and stable SERS performance and thus have attracted wide attention in recent years. In this work, we reported a simple fabrication method to achieve wafer-scale ultradense tilted and staggered plasmonic metallic nanopillars filled with numerous nanogaps (hot spots). By adjusting the etching time of the PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) layer, the optimal SERS substrate with the densest metallic nanopillars was obtained, which possessed a detection limit down to 10⁻¹³ M by using crystal violet as the detected molecules and exhibited excellent reproducibility and long-term stability. Furthermore, the proposed fabrication approach was further used to prepare flexible substrates; for example, a SERS flexible substrate was proven to be an ideal platform for analyzing low-concentration pesticide residues on curved fruit surfaces with significantly enhanced sensitivity. This type of SERS substrate possesses potential in real-life applications as low-cost and high-performance sensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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13 pages, 10813 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reduced Graphene Oxide and Gold Nanoparticles-Modified Electrochemical Aptasensor for Highly Sensitive Detection of Doxorubicin

by Fanli Kong, Jinping Luo, Luyi Jing, Yiding Wang, Huayu Shen, Rong Yu, Shuai Sun, Yu Xing, Tao Ming, Meiting Liu, Hongyan Jin and Xinxia Cai

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(7), 1223; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13071223 - 30 Mar 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1679

Abstract

Doxorubicin (DOX) is the most clinically important antibiotic in cancer treatment, but its severe cardiotoxicity and other side effects limit its clinical use. Therefore, monitoring DOX concentrations during therapy is essential to improve efficacy and reduce adverse effects. Here, we fabricated a sensitive electrochemical aptasensor for DOX detection. The sensor used gold wire as the working electrode and was modified with reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to improve the sensitivity. An aptamer was used as the recognition element for the DOX. The 5′ end of the aptamer was modified with a thiol group, and thus immobilized to the AuNPs, and the 3′ end was modified with methylene blue, which acts as the electron mediator. The combination between the aptamer and DOX would produce a binding-induced conformation, which changes the electron transfer rate, yielding a current change that correlates with the concentration of DOX. The aptasensor exhibited good linearity in the DOX concentration range of 0.3 μM to 6 μM, with a detection limit of 0.1 μM. In addition, the aptasensor was used for DOX detection in real samples and results, and showed good recovery. The proposed electrochemical aptasensor will provide a sensitive, fast, simple, and reliable new platform for detecting DOX. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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9 pages, 2220 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gelatin-Coated Magnetic Nanowires for High-Sensitivity Optical Labels

by M. Charbel Cuevas-Corona, J. Mauricio Lopez-Romero, Alejandro Manzano-Ramírez, Rodrigo Esparza, Rosa E. Zavala-Arce, Alejandro J. Gimenez and Gabriel Luna-Bárcenas

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13010015 - 20 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1076

Abstract

The encapsulation of magnetic nickel nanowires (NiNWs) with gelatin is proposed as an alternative for optical label detection. Magnetic nanowires can be detected at very low concentrations using light-scattering methods. This detection capacity could be helpful in applications such as transducers for molecular and biomolecular sensors; however, potential applications require the attachment of specific binding molecules to the nanowire structure. In the present study, a method is presented which is helpful in coating magnetic nanowires with gelatin, a material with the potential to handle specific decoration and functionalization of the nanowires; in the first case, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are efficiently used to decorate the nanowires. Furthermore, it is shown that the synthesized gelatin-coated particles have excellent detectability to the level of 140 pg/mL; this level of detection outperforms more complex techniques such as ICP-OES (~3 ng/mL for Ni) and magnetoresistance sensing (~10 ng/mL for magnetic nanoparticles). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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12 pages, 3882 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Different Solvents on Morphology and Gas-Sensitive Properties of Grinding-Assisted Liquid-Phase-Exfoliated MoS₂ Nanosheets

by Hao Wang, Xiaojie Xu and Talgar Shaymurat

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(24), 4485; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12244485 - 18 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1631

Abstract

Grinding-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation is a widely used method for the preparation of two-dimensional nanomaterials. In this study, N-methylpyrrolidone and acetonitrile, two common grinding solvents, were used during the liquid-phase exfoliation for the preparation of MoS₂ nanosheets. The morphology and structure of MoS₂ nanosheets were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. The effects of grinding solvents on the gas-sensing performance of the MoS₂ nanosheets were investigated for the first time. The results show that the sensitivities of MoS₂ nanosheet exfoliation with N-methylpyrrolidone were 2.4-, 1.4-, 1.9-, and 2.7-fold higher than exfoliation with acetonitrile in the presence of formaldehyde, acetone, and ethanol and 98% relative humidity, respectively. MoS₂ nanosheet exfoliation with N-methylpyrrolidone also has fast response and recovery characteristics to 50–1000 ppm of CH₂O. Accordingly, although N-methylpyrrolidone cannot be removed completely from the surface of MoS₂, it has good gas sensitivity compared with other samples. Therefore, N-methylpyrrolidone is preferred for the preparation of gas-sensitive MoS₂ nanosheets in grinding-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation. The results provide an experimental basis for the preparation of two-dimensional materials and their application in gas sensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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14 pages, 6233 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Self-Powered Nitrogen Dioxide Sensor Based on Pd-Decorated ZnO/MoSe₂ Nanocomposite Driven by Triboelectric Nanogenerator

by Weiwei Wang, Dongyue Wang, Xixi Zhang, Chunqing Yang and Dongzhi Zhang

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(23), 4274; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12234274 - 01 Dec 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1604

Abstract

This paper introduces a high-performance self-powered nitrogen dioxide gas sensor based on Pd-modified ZnO/MoSe₂ nanocomposites. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers were prepared by high-voltage electrospinning and tribological nanogenerators (TENGs) were designed. The output voltage of TENG and the performance of the generator at different frequencies were measured. The absolute value of the maximum positive and negative voltage exceeds 200 V. Then, the output voltage of a single ZnO thin-film sensor, Pd@ZnO thin-film sensor and Pd@ZnO/MoSe₂ thin-film sensor was tested by using the energy generated by TENG at 5 Hz, when the thin-film sensor was exposed to 1–50 ppm NO₂ gas. The experimental results showed that the sensing response of the Pd@ZnO/MoSe₂ thin-film sensor was higher than that of the single ZnO film sensor and Pd@ZnO thin-film sensor. The TENG-driven response rate of the Pd@ZnO/MoSe₂ sensor on exposure to 50 ppm NO₂ gas was 13.8. At the same time, the sensor had good repeatability and selectivity. The synthetic Pd@ZnO/MoSe₂ ternary nanocomposite was an ideal material for the NO₂ sensor, with excellent structure and performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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13 pages, 4553 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Highly Bright Gold Nanowires Arrays for Sensitive Detection of Urea and Urease

by Yan Li, Aowei Zhao, Jieqiong Wang, Jieyu Yu, Fei Xiao and Hongcheng Sun

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(22), 4023; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12224023 - 16 Nov 2022

Viewed by 1349

Abstract

In this work, highly fluorescent gold nanowire arrays (Au NWs) are successfully synthesized by assembling Zn²⁺ ions and non-emissive oligomeric gold-thiolate clusters using mercaptopropionic acid both as a reducing agent and a growth ligand. The synthesized Au NWs exhibited strong bluish green fluorescence with an absolute quantum yield up to 32% and possessed ultrasensitive pH stimuli-responsive performance in the range of 7.0–7.8. Based on the excellent properties of the as-prepared nanowire arrays, we developed a facile, sensitive, and selective fluorescent method for quantitative detection of urea and urease. The fabricated nanoprobe showed superior biosensing response characteristics with good linearities in the range of 0–100 μM for urea concentration and 0–12 U/L for urease activity. In addition, this fluorescent probe afforded relatively high sensitivity with the detection limit as low as 2.1 μM and 0.13 U/L for urea and urease, respectively. Urea in human urine and urease in human serum were detected with satisfied results, exhibiting a promising potential for biomedical application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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Review

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18 pages, 2693 KiB

Open AccessReview

Nanobiosensing Based on Electro-Optically Modulated Technology

by Shuang Li, Ziyue Qin, Jie Fu and Qiya Gao

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(17), 2400; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13172400 - 23 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1017

Abstract

At the nanoscale, metals exhibit special electrochemical and optical properties, which play an important role in nanobiosensing. In particular, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based on precious metal nanoparticles, as a kind of tag-free biosensor technology, has brought high sensitivity, high reliability, and convenient operation to sensor detection. By applying an electrochemical excitation signal to the nanoplasma device, modulating its surface electron density, and realizing electrochemical coupling SPR, it can effectively complete the joint transmission of electrical and optical signals, increase the resonance shift of the spectrum, and further improve the sensitivity of the designed biosensor. In addition, smartphones are playing an increasingly important role in portable mobile sensor detection systems. These systems typically connect sensing devices to smartphones to perceive different types of information, from optical signals to electrochemical signals, providing ideas for the portability and low-cost design of these sensing systems. Among them, electrochemiluminescence (ECL), as a special electrochemically coupled optical technology, has good application prospects in mobile sensing detection due to its strong anti-interference ability, which is not affected by background light. In this review, the SPR is introduced using nanoparticles, and its response process is analyzed theoretically. Then, the mechanism and sensing application of electrochemistry coupled with SPR and ECL are emphatically introduced. Finally, it extends to the relevant research on electrochemically coupled optical sensing on mobile detection platforms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies for Micro/Nano-Sensors)

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