Advanced Sensor Research最新文献

The development and application of Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance (EQCM) sensing to study metal electroplating, especially for energy storage purposes, are reviewed. The roles of EQCM in describing electrode/electrolyte interface dynamics, such as the electric double-layer build-up, ionic/molecular adsorption, metal nucleation, and growth, are addressed. Modeling of the QCM sensor is introduced and its importance is emphasized. Challenges of metal electrode use, including side reactions and dendrite formation, along with their mitigation strategies are reviewed. Numerous factors affecting the electroplating processes, such as electrolyte composition, additives, temperature, and current density, and their influence on the electroplated metals’ mass, structural, and mechanical characteristics are discussed. Looking forward, the need for deeper fundamental understanding and advancing simulations of the QCM signal response as a result of electroplating metal nanostructures is stressed. Further development and integration of innovative EQCM-strategies will provide unique future means to fundamentally understand and optimize metal electroplating for energy storage and application alike.

Smart hydrogel sensors, functioning as implantable devices, play a vital role in health monitoring and early warning, overcoming the limitations of conventional clinical methods to achieve direct, continuous, and precise monitoring. Widely employed across various biomedical fields, these sensors offer unique advantages for early health monitoring, ensuring direct, continuous, and highly accurate monitoring. In addition to detecting biomolecules, smart hydrogel sensors, with their flexibility and biocompatibility, monitor disease-specific markers, offer insights into disease progression, and contribute to the early identification of diseases. This article provides a comprehensive review of the types of hydrogel sensors employed in human health monitoring. The study discusses recent advancements in smart hydrogel sensor research, aiming to offer promising methods for human health monitoring. Finally, the paper outlines prospective research directions for hydrogel sensors in the field of human health monitoring. While further research and clinical validation are essential, hydrogel sensors are poised to play a pivotal role in clinical applications, furnishing people with accurate and continuous health monitoring.

A serous effusion is a buildup of extra fluid in the serous cavities including pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial cavities. It is important to distinguish benign reactive effusions from effusions caused by malignant proliferation in cytopathology since different diagnoses can lead to completely different disease staging and therapeutic choices. The conventional cytopathology procedure has the disadvantages of low throughput and low objectivity. To enhance the efficiency and accuracy of malignant serous effusion diagnosis, in this paper, an imaging flow cytometry, called optofluidic time-stretch microscopy is first employed, to image the cells in the serous effusion at an event rate of 100 000 events per second and with a spatial resolution better than 1 µm. The acquired cellular images are then analyzed using a convolutional neural network, by which the malignant cells are accurately detected. The performance of the method is validated with 18 clinical samples, including 14 malignant and 4 benign ones. The results show that the method can detect malignant cells at an accuracy of 90.53%. The high throughput, high accuracy, and high convenience of the method make it a potential solution for malignant serous effusion diagnosis in various scenarios.

This review delves into the significant advancements in microfluidic technology since 2017, highlighting its critical role in shrinking device sizes and integrating advanced surface functionalization techniques. It showcases how microfluidics, an interdisciplinary field, has revolutionized fluid manipulation on a microscale, enabling the creation of cost-effective, portable devices for on-the-spot analyses, like heavy metal ion detection. From its early days rooted in ancient observations to cutting-edge uses of materials like silicon, glass, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and paper, this review charts microfluidics’ dynamic evolution. It emphasizes the transformative impact of surface functionalization methods, including silanization and plasma treatments, in enhancing device materials' performance. Moreover, this review anticipates the exciting convergence of microfluidics with emerging technologies like droplet microfluidics and three-dimensional (3D) printing, alongside nanotechnology, forecasting a future of sophisticated analytical tools, point-of-care diagnostics, and improved detection systems. It acknowledges the hurdles in scaling production and achieving universal reliability and standardization. This review highlights the transformative impact of microfluidic technology on diagnostics and environmental surveillance, emphasizing its utility in deploying compact sensors for comprehensive and concurrent evaluations of water quality.

Flexible Modulus Sensor

In article 2300148, Hengchang Bi, Xing Wu, and co-workers report a modulus sensing system with a characteristic of high linearity detection, which consists of a pressure sensor and a vibrator. It is able to quickly identify the physiological state of human body based on the modulus change of the detected tissues, exhibiting great potential in the health monitoring, such as the concept eye mask for migraine monitoring.

Organic X-ray sensors are a promising new class of detectors with the potential to revolutionize medical imaging, security screening, and other applications. However, the development of high-performance organic X-ray sensors is challenged by low sensitivity. This paper reports on the development of nine X-ray sensors based on new organic materials. It is demonstrated that the incorporation of bromine atoms into the sidechains of carbazolyl-containing organic molecules significantly enhances their X-ray sensitivity. This research suggests that incorporating a variety of high-atomic-number chemical elements into well-established organic semiconductors is a promising strategy for designing efficient X-ray sensor materials.

Optical fiber technology is gaining increasing importance in all those fields requiring reliable, miniaturized, compact, and plug-and-play devices, with a special relevance in life science applications. Here, optical fibers are adopted to measure the fluids viscosity, by detecting the transit time (related to viscosity) of a steel bead moving through the tested fluid in a microfluidic channel under constant pressure. The proposed optofluidic system is designed by defining a theoretical model, here experimentally validated in the viscosity range of 5–110 cP, well resembling main blood flow features. The achieved results demonstrate the capability to work in multi-point and single-point detection modalities with a trade-off between resolution (minimum of 10⁻¹ and 1 cP respectively) and measurement time (tens of seconds and milliseconds range, respectively). An optimum accuracy close to 1.5% has been achieved, with room for further optimization by reducing bead size uncertainty. The proposed platform features simple, low-cost, reliable, and fast measurements and ensures the integration with microfluidics chip in a miniaturized and disposable system. The low volumes required (scalable down to µL range) and the ease of use enable the translation of the proposed platform in clinical scenarios involving real-time blood and plasma viscosity measurements under physiological conditions.

Pathogenic microorganisms contaminating potable water are a serious water quality concern because they have severe consequences for human and environmental health. Managing water contamination requires the availability of fast and highly sensitive point-of-use detection systems responsive to a wide concentration range. In the present work, this goal is achieved by realizing a cascade-structured biosensor that exploits innovative stimuli-responsive materials such as gold nanorods (AuNRs) and photosensitive nematic liquid crystals (NLCs). The cascade structure is fabricated by interfacing a glass substrate in a back-to-front arrangement, hosting an array of bioactivated AuNRs and an NLC cell. The AuNRs array integrates microfluidic channels, allowing direct water sampling and the analysis of reduced water volumes with high sensitivity. The biosensor combines in the same device two independent optical transducers: a bioactive AuNRs array (plasmonic biosensor), sensitive to refractive index alterations, and an NLC cell that detects the presence of pathogens by responding to light intensity variations. The plasmonic biosensor performs exceptionally well for very low concentrations of bacteria. In contrast, the NLC biosensor works for high-concentration bacteria, thus providing a cascade-like detection system able to detect bacteria in a wide concentration range from 10 to 10⁹ CFU mL⁻¹.