The electrocatalytic properties of nanoparticles depend on their size, shape and composition. These properties are typically probed by measuring the total electrocatalytic reaction current of a large number of nanoparticles, but this approach is time-consuming and can only measure the average catalytic activity of the nanoparticles under study. However, the identification of new catalysts requires the ability to rapidly measure the properties of nanoparticles synthesized under various conditions and, ideally, to measure the electrocatalytic activity of individual nanoparticles. Here, we show that a plasmonic-based electrochemical current-imaging technique can simultaneously image and quantify the electrocatalytic reactions of an array of 1.6 × 10(5) platinum nanoparticles printed on an electrode surface, which could facilitate high-throughput screening of the catalytic activities of nanoparticles. We also show that the approach can be used to image the electrocatalytic reaction current and measure the cyclic voltammograms of single nanoparticles.

We report an electrochemical impedance microscope (EIM) based on surface plasmon resonance. The new EIM can resolve local impedance with sub-micron spatial resolution, and monitor dynamics of various processes, such as apoptosis and electroporation of individual cells with millisecond time resolution. The high spatial and temporal resolution images make it possible to not only study individual cells, but also resolve the sub-cellular structures and processes without labels. The detection sensitivity achieved with the current setup is ~2 pS, which is excellent considering the conductance of a single ion channel is in the range of 5–400 pS. We describe also a model that simulates the EIM images of cells based on local dielectric constant and conductivity.

We have carried out Hall measurement on back-gated graphene field effect transistors (FET) with and without a top dielectric medium. The gate efficiency increases by up to 2 orders of magnitude in the presence of a high κ top dielectric medium, but the mobility does not change significantly. Our measurement further shows that the back-gate capacitance is enhanced dramatically by the top dielectric medium, and the enhancement increases with the size of the top dielectric medium. Our work strongly suggests that the previously reported top dielectric medium-induced charge transport properties of graphene FETs are possibly due to the increase of gate capacitance, rather than enhancement of carrier mobility.

Based on its performance metrics, the NanoMonitor has excellent potential for development as a point-of-care handheld electronic biosensor device for routine detection of glycan biomarkers from clinical samples.

Proteomics aspires to elucidate the functions of all proteins. Protein microarrays provide an important step by enabling high-throughput studies of displayed proteins. However, many functional assays of proteins include untethered intermediates or products, which could frustrate the use of planar arrays at very high densities because of diffusion to neighboring features. The nucleic acid programmable protein array (NAPPA), is a robust, in situ synthesis method for producing functional proteins just-in-time, which includes steps with diffusible intermediates. We determined that diffusion of expressed proteins led to cross-binding at neighboring spots at very high densities with reduced inter-spot spacing. To address this limitation, we have developed an innovative platform using photolithographically-etched discrete silicon nanowells and used NAPPA as a test case. This arrested protein diffusion and cross-binding. We present confined high density protein expression and display, as well as functional protein-protein interactions, in 8,000 nanowell arrays. This is the highest density of individual proteins in nano-vessels demonstrated on a single slide. We further present proof of principle results on ultra-high density protein arrays capable of up to 24,000 nanowells on a single slide.

Better and more diverse biomarkers for the development of simple point-of-care tests for active tuberculosis (TB), a clinically heterogeneous disease, are urgently needed. We generated a proteomic Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) High-Density Nucleic Acid Programmable Protein Array (HD-NAPPA) that used a novel multiplexed strategy for expedited high-throughput screening for antibody responses to the Mtb proteome. We screened sera from HIV uninfected and coinfected TB patients and controls (n ‫؍‬ 120) from the US and South Africa (SA) using the multiplex HD-NAPPA for discovery, followed by deconvolution and validation through single protein HD-NAPPA with biologically independent samples (n ‫؍‬ 124). We verified the top proteins with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) using the original screening and validation samples (n ‫؍‬ 244) and heretofore untested samples (n ‫؍‬ 41). We identified 8 proteins with TB biomarker value; four (Rv0054, Rv0831c, Rv2031c and Rv0222) of these were previously identified in serology studies, and four (Rv0948c, Rv2853, Rv3405c, Rv3544c) were not known to elicit antibody responses. Using ELISA data, we created classifiers that could discriminate patients' TB status according to geography (

Viral infections elicit anti-viral antibodies and have been associated with various chronic diseases. Detection of these antibodies can facilitate diagnosis, treatment of infection and understanding of the mechanisms of virus associated diseases. In this work, we assayed anti-viral antibodies using a novel high density-nucleic acid programmable protein array (HD-NAPPA) platform. Individual viral proteins were expressed in situ directly from plasmids encoding proteins in an array of microscopic reaction chambers. Quality of protein display and serum response was assured by comparing intra- and inter- array correlation within or between printing batches with average correlation coefficients of 0.91 and 0.96, respectively. HD-NAPPA showed higher signal to background (S/B) ratio compared with standard NAPPA on planar glass slides and ELISA. Antibody responses to 761 antigens from 25 different viruses were profiled among patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and type 1 diabetes (T1D). Common as well as unique antibody reactivity patterns were detected between patients and healthy controls. We believe HD-viral-NAPPA will enable the study of host-pathogen interactions at unprecedented dimensions and elucidate the role of pathogen infections in disease development.

Charge-based detection of small molecules is demonstrated by plasmonic-based electrochemical impedance microscopy (P-EIM). The dependence of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) on surface charge density is used to detect small molecules (60-120 Da) printed on a dextran-modified sensor surface. Local variations in charge density on an electrode surface are manifest in an optical SPR signal. The SPR response to an applied ac potential measures the sensor surface impedance which is a function of the surface charge density. This optical signal is comprised of a dc and an ac component, and is measured with high spatial resolution. The dc element of the SPR signal represents conventional SPR imaging information. The amplitude and phase of local surface impedance is provided by the ac component. The phase signal of the small molecules is a function of their charge status, which is manipulated by the pH of a solution. Small molecules with positive, neutral, and negative charge are detected by P-EIM. This technique is used to detect and distinguish small molecules based on their charge status, thereby circumventing the mass limitation (~100 Da) of conventional SPR measurement.