In recent years, conductive diamond electrodes for electrochemical applications have been a major focus of research and development. The impetus behind such endeavors could be attributed to their wide potential window, low background current, chemical inertness, and mechanical durability. Several analytes can be oxidized by conducting diamond compared to other carbon-based materials before the breakdown of water in aqueous electrolytes. This is important for detecting and/or identifying species in solution since oxygen and hydrogen evolution do not interfere with the analysis. Thus, conductive diamond electrodes take electrochemical detection into new areas and extend their usefulness to analytes which are not feasible with conventional electrode materials. Different types of diamond electrodes, polycrystalline, microcrystalline, nanocrystalline and ultrananocrystalline, have been synthesized and characterized. Of particular interest is the synthesis of boron-doped diamond (BDD) films by chemical vapor deposition on various substrates. In the tetrahedral diamond lattice, each carbon atom is covalently bonded to its neighbors forming an extremely robust crystalline structure. Some carbon atoms in the lattice are substituted with boron to provide electrical conductivity. Modification strategies of doped diamond electrodes with metallic nanoparticles and/or electropolymerized films are of importance to impart novel characteristics or to improve the performance of diamond electrodes. Biofunctionalization of diamond films is also feasible to foster several useful bioanalytical applications. A plethora of opportunities for nanoscale analytical devices based on conducting diamond is anticipated in the very near future

Pseudomonas sp. strain F113 was isolated from the rhizosphere of sugar beets and shown to inhibit a range of plant pathogenic fungi by producing an antibioticlike compound. An antibiotic-negative mutant strain, F113G22, was generated by transposon mutagenesis. This mutant has lost the ability to inhibit both bacterial and fungal microorganisms on high-iron medium. The antibioticlike compound was subsequently identified as 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG), and a high-pressure liquid chromatographic assay was developed for to detect it quantitatively in growth culture media and soil. The growth temperature had a direct bearing on DAPG production by strain F113, with maximum production at 12°C. The iron concentration, pH, and oxygen had no influence on DAPG production by strain F113 under the assay conditions used. However, a low ratio of culture volume to surface area available to the microbe in the growth container was critical for optimum DAPG production. Different types of carbon sources influenced DAPG production by strain F113 to various degrees. For example, sucrose, fructose, and mannitol promoted high yields of DAPG by strain F113, whereas glucose and sorbose resulted in very poor DAPG production.

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The use of gold nanoparticles in conjunction with etched capillary-based open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (OTCEC) to improve the efficiency of separation and the selectivity between selected solutes is described. The fused-silica capillaries (50-microm i.d.) were etched with ammonium hydrogen difluoride, followed by prederivatization of the new surface with (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) for the immobilization of dodecanethiol gold nanoparticles, for OTCEC. The electrochromatography of a "reversed-phase" test mixture and of selected polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons was investigated, and efficient separations and high theoretical plate numbers per meter were obtained. The electroosmotic flow characteristics of the etched gold nanoparticle capillary, unetched gold nanoparticle capillary, bare capillary, and etched bare capillary were studied by varying the percentage of organic modifier in buffer, buffer pH, and separation voltage. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to examine the process of etching and modification and the surface features of the etched gold nanoparticle capillary. The results confirm that dodecanethiol gold nanoparticles bonded on the etched inner wall of the fused-silica capillary can provide sufficient solute-bonded phase interactions to obtain OTCEC separations with reproducible retention, as well as characteristic reversed-phase behavior, even with the inner diameter of the capillary of 50 microm.

A very simple and fast method for the fabrication of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic devices is introduced. By using a photocopying machine to make a master on transparency instead of using lithographic equipment and photoresist, the fabrication process is greatly simplified and speeded up, requiring less than 1.5 h from design to device. Through SEM characterization, any micro-channel network with a width greater than 50 microm and a depth in the range of 8-14 microm can be made by this method. After sealing to a Pyrex glass plate with micromachined platinum electrodes, a microfluidic device was made and the device was tested in FIA mode with on-chip conductometric detection without using either high voltage or other pumping methods.

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Electroanalysis was performed using a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode for the simultaneous detection of 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4-quinolone (PQS), 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline (HHQ) and pyocyanin (PYO). PQS and its precursor HHQ are two important signal molecules produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, while PYO is a redox active toxin involved in virulence and pathogenesis. This Gram-negative and opportunistic human pathogen is associated with a hospital-acquired infection particularly in patients with compromised immunity and is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Early detection is crucial in the clinical management of this pathogen, with established infections entering a biofilm lifestyle that is refractory to conventional antibiotic therapies. Herein, a detection procedure was optimized and proven for the simultaneous detection of PYO, HHQ and PQS in standard mixtures, biological samples, and P. aeruginosa spiked CF sputum samples with remarkable sensitivity, down to nanomolar levels. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) scans were also applicable for monitoring the production of PYO, HHQ and PQS in P. aeruginosa PA14 over 8 h of cultivation. The simultaneous detection of these three compounds represents a molecular signature specific to this pathogen.

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