Single‐Molecule Fluorescence Imaging of Nanocatalysis

Abstract

What is the most favorite and original chemistry developed in your research groupOur most favorite chemistry is the single-molecule nanocatalysis of the energy process. How do you get into this specific field?Could you please share some experiences with our readers? I got into this field firstly in 2007 as a postdoctoral in Prof. Peng Chen's lab at Cornell University. Due to the structural heterogeneity of nanoparticles, the structure-activity relationship of nanocatalysts is challenging to characterize precisely in ensemble-averaged measurements. At that time, the single-molecule approach has been adopted extensively in biological field. Prof. Peng Chen wanted to extend such technique to the field of nanocatalysis, so what I first achieved in his lab was the first kinetic study of single-molecule nanocatalysis of individual nanoparticles to reveal new catalytic properties at the single-particle level with real-time single-turnover resolution, including the heterogeneous reactivity and selectivity of individual nanoparticles. At present, single-molecule fluorescence microscopy (SMFM) has been applied to investigate all kinds of nanocatalysis, such as electrocatalysis, photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, etc. While our group mainly focuses on the application of SMFM in energy process-related basic research. What is the most important personality for scientific research?Enthusiasm, independent-thinking, concentration and desire for knowledge. What are your hobbies? What's your favorite book(s)?Hiking, reading and listening to music at leisure time. I like Green Miles. Could you please give us some advices on improving Chinese Journal of Chemistry?Maybe you can pay more attention to young researchers.

Nanoscale Luminescence Imaging/Detection of Single Particles: State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects

“…FL microscopy is a potential approach for studying catalysis and dynamic collision and oxidation of NPs on an individual molecule or particle level through fluorogenic reactions. In these experiments, NPs can catalyze nonfluorescent reactants to produce strong fluorescent products, providing the basis for subsequent detection and imaging at a single particle/molecule level . Typically, fluorescent NPs are embedded within a condensed phase matrix or sparsely dispersed over a support.…”

Spherical Nucleic Acid‐Amplified Digital Flow Cytometric Bead Assay for the Ultrasensitive Detection of Protein and Exosome†

“…In this respect, most of the conventional bulk measurement‐based analytical methods, namely, the analog signal readout assays, are not quite satisfactory. In the past decade, with the rapid development of fluorescence imaging/counting technologies, [ 5‐8 ] a collection of elegant digital bioassays that can detect biomarkers at the single‐molecule level have opened a new way towards the quantification of trace amount of biomarkers. [ 9‐13 ] Totally different from the traditional analytical methods, in a typical digital bioassay, the low abundance of target molecules is isolated into numerous sealed microreactors, ensuring that at most one single target molecule is located in one microreactor.…”

Spatiotemporal Isolation BasedSuper‐ResolutionMicroscopy†

“…[ 5‐7 ] Because SRM can be used to analyze nanoscale structures within the diffraction limit and even at the single‐molecule level, it promotes novel discoveries in biology, chemistry, and materials science. [ 8‐13 ]…”