Electrochemical time-of-flight responses at double-band generator-collector devices under pulsed conditions

Electrochemical DNA biosensors based on long-range electron transfer: investigating the efficiency of a fluidic channel microelectrode compared to an ultramicroelectrode in a two-electrode setup

Here, we describe the transposition of an ultramicroelectrode (UME) setup into a microfluidic chip configuration for DNA biosensors. The hydrodynamic properties of the fluidic channel microelectrode were screened with an [Fe(iii)(CN)₆]^3-/[Fe(ii)(CN)₆]^4- redox couple by cyclic voltammetry to provide a basis for further biological processes. A 23-base DNA probe was self-assembled into a monolayer on gold microelectrodes both in classical configuration and integrated in a microfluidic setup. Special interest was focused on the DNA target mimicking the liver-specific micro-ribonucleic acid 122 (miRNA122). Long-range electron transfer was chosen for transducing the hybridization. This direct transduction was indeed significantly enhanced after hybridization due to DNA-duplex π-stacking and the use of redox methylene blue as a DNA intercalator. Quantification of the target was deduced from the resulting electrical signal characterized by cyclic voltammetry. The limit of detection for DNA hybridization was 0.1 fM in stopped flow experiments, where it can reach 1 aM over a 0.5 μL s^-1 flow rate, a value 10⁴-fold lower than the one measured with a conventional UME dipped into an electrolyte droplet under the same analytical conditions. An explanation was that forced convection drives more biomolecules to the area of detection even if a balance between the speed of collection and the number of biomolecules collected has been found. The latter point is discussed here along with an attempt to explain why the sensor has reached such an unexpected value for the limit of detection.

Enhancing the Bipolar Redox Cycling Efficiency of Plane-Recessed Microelectrode Arrays by Adding a Chemically Irreversible Interferent

The individual electrochemical anodic responses of dopamine (DA), epinephrine (EP), and pyrocatechol (CT) were investigated at arrays of recessed gold disk-microelectrodes arrays (MEAs) covered by a gold plane electrode and compared to those of their binary mixture (CT and EP) when the top-plane electrode was operated as a bipolar electrode or as a collector. The interferent species (EP) displays a chemically irreversible wave over the same potential range as the chemically reversible ones of DA or CT. As expected, in the generator-collector (GC) mode, EP did not contribute to the redox cycling amplification that occurred only for DA or CT. Conversely, in the bipolar mode, the presence of EP drastically increased the bipolar redox cycling efficiency of DA and CT. This evidenced that the chemically irreversible oxidation of EP at the anodic poles of the top plane floating electrode provided additional electron fluxes that were used to more efficiently reduce the oxidized DA or CT species at the cathodic poles. This suggests an easy experimental strategy for enhancing the bipolar efficiency of MEAs up to reach a performance identical to that achieved when the same MEAs are operated in a GC mode.

Improved electrochemical detection of a transthyretin synthetic peptide in the nanomolar range with a two-electrode system integrated in a glass/PDMS microchip

An alternative to a three-electrode set-up for electrochemical detection and analysis in microfluidic chips is described here. The design of the electrochemical sensor consists of the surface of the glass substrate covered with a PDMS block which bears the microfluidic channels. A band microelectrode which acts as a working electrode surrounded by a large counter electrode is obtained at the micrometric level to propose a simple and efficient sensing area for on-a-chip analysis. The counter-electrode with a surface area about 22-fold greater than the working-microelectrode can also be considered as a pseudo reference since its current density is low and thus limits the potential variations around the rest potential. To this purpose, the [Fe(III)(CN)₆]³⁻/[Fe(II)(CN)₆]⁴⁻ redox couple was used in order to set a reference potential at 0 V since both electrodes were platinum. The electrochemical microchip performance was characterized using differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) detection and quantification of the optically multi-labelled transthyretin synthetic peptide mimicking a tryptic fragment of interest for the diagnosis of familial transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR). The limit of detection of the peptide by the working microelectrode was 25 nM, a value 100-fold lower than the one reported with conventional capillary electrophoresis coupled with laser-induced fluorescence under the same analytical conditions.

Redox cycling in nanoscale-recessed ring-disk electrode arrays for enhanced electrochemical sensitivity

An array of nanoscale-recessed ring-disk electrodes was fabricated using layer-by-layer deposition, nanosphere lithography, and a multistep reactive ion etching process. The resulting device was operated in generator-collector mode by holding the ring electrodes at a constant potential and performing cyclic voltammetry by sweeping the disk potential in Fe(CN)6(3-/4-) solutions. Steady-state response and enhanced (~10×) limiting current were achieved by cycling the redox couple between ring and disk electrodes with high transfer/collection efficiency. The collector (ring) electrode, which is held at a constant potential, exhibits a much smaller charging current than the generator (disk), and it is relatively insensitive to scan rate. A characteristic feature of the nanoscale ring-disk geometry is that the electrochemical reaction occurring at the disk electrodes can be tuned by modulating the potential at the ring electrodes. Measured shifts in Fe(CN)6(3-/4-) concentration profiles were found to be in excellent agreement with finite element method simulations. The main performance metric, the amplification factor, was optimized for arrays containing small diameter pores (r < 250 nm) with minimum electrode spacing and high pore density. Finally, integration of the fabricated array within a nanochannel produced up to 50-fold current amplification as well as enhanced selectivity, demonstrating the compatibility of the device with lab-on-a-chip architectures.

Reagentless and calibrationless silicate measurement in oceanic waters

Determination of silicate concentration in seawater without addition of liquid reagents was the key prerequisite for developing an autonomous in situ electrochemical silicate sensor (Lacombe et al., 2007) [11]. The present challenge is to address the issue of calibrationless determination. To achieve such an objective, we chose chronoamperometry performed successively on planar microelectrode (ME) and ultramicroelectrode (UME) among the various possibilities. This analytical method allows estimating simultaneously the diffusion coefficient and the concentration of the studied species. Results obtained with ferrocyanide are in excellent agreement with values of the imposed concentration and diffusion coefficient found in the literature. For the silicate reagentless method, successive chronoamperometric measurements have been performed using a pair of gold disk electrodes for both UME and ME. Our calibrationless method was tested with different concentrations of silicate in artificial seawater from 55 to 140×10(-6) mol L(-1). The average value obtained for the diffusion coefficient of the silicomolybdic complex is 2.2±0.4×10(-6) cm(2) s(-1), consistent with diffusion coefficient values of molecules in liquid media. Good results were observed when comparing known concentration of silicate with experimentally derived ones. Further work is underway to explore silicate determination within the lower range of oceanic silicate concentration, down to 0.1×10(-6) mol L(-1).

Generator-collector experiments at a single electrode: exploring the general applicability of this approach by comparing the performance of surface immobilized versus solution phase sensing molecules

We demonstrate proof-of-concept that generator-collector experiments can be performed at a single macroelectrode and used to determine mechanistic information. The practical advantages of such a system over conventional generator-collector techniques are also outlined. The single-electrode generator-collector technique is applied to study the known mechanism of oxygen reduction in aqueous conditions as a model system. We seek to demonstrate that the single-electrode generator-collector approach is capable of detecting local pH changes, immediately adjacent to the electrode surface during a redox reaction. Experiments are performed using a molecular pH probe attached to the electrode surface. Comparison of experimental data with numerical simulations verifies that the reduction of oxygen at pH 6.8 proceeds via a two-electron, two-proton mechanism. Experiments were also performed with a molecular pH probe dissolved in the electrolyte solution in order to explore the feasibility of this approach, which is potentially applicable to a much wider range of electrochemical systems.

Theory and experiments of transport at channel microband electrodes under laminar flows. 2. Electrochemical regimes at double microband assemblies under steady state

The development of any particular analytical or preparative applications using electrochemical techniques in microfluidic devices requires integration of microelectrodes. This involves detailed predictions for optimizing the design of devices and selecting the best hydrodynamic conditions. For this purpose, we undertook a series of works aimed at a precise investigation of mass transport near electrodes with focus on analytical measurements. Part I of this series (Anal. Chem. 2007, 79, 8502-8510) evaluated the common case of a single microband electrode embedded within a microchannel under laminar flow. The present work (Part 2) investigated the case of a pair of microband electrodes operating either in generator-generator or generator-collector modes. The influence of the confining effect and flow velocity on the amperometric responses was examined on the basis of numerical simulations under steady-state regime. Several situations were identified, each of them corresponding to specific interactions taking place between the electrodes. Related conditions were extracted to establish a zone diagram describing all the situations. These predictions were systematically validated by experimental measurements. The results show that amperometric detections within microchannels can be performed at dual electrodes with higher analytical performances than at single ones.

Simultaneous photocharging and luminescence intermittency in silicon nanocrystals

Contemporaneous measurements of the time dependence of photoluminescence and concomitant electrical conduction in films of alkylated silicon nanocrystals (NCs) during and between periods of continuous-wave laser irradiation of arbitrary duration establish the role played by photoionization to a conducting state in the intermittent light emission from silicon nanocrystals. The luminescence and current generated by electron photoejection both decay to non-zero, steady-state values during irradiation with visible laser light at incident intensities in the range 0.25-0.30 ± 0.01  kW cm(-2); on cessation of irradiation, the non-conducting photoluminescent state of the NCs is substantially regained. These observations are consistent with a model in which the decay of photoluminescence is ascribed to autoionization of the silicon NCs with a most probable lifetime ⟨T(a)⟩, depending on particle size, and recovery of luminescence to electron-hole recombination characterized by a most probable lifetime ⟨T(eh)⟩. Values of ⟨T(a)⟩ = 1.08 ± 0.03 s and ⟨T(eh)⟩ = 770 ± 300 s are extracted from nonlinear least-squares fitting to the time dependence of the photoluminescence intensity. The temporal behavior of the transient photocurrent is found to be quantitatively consistent with a one-dimensional model of diffusion of charge carriers between NCs. Integration of the time dependence of the photocurrent response coupled with an estimate of the volume irradiated with the laser light suggests ionization of one electron per NC during photon irradiation.