Recently, there has been a growing interest in point of care devices capable of detecting nucleic acids in clinical and environmental samples. Nucleic acid detection requires, however, various sample preparation steps that complicate device operation. An attractive remedy is to integrate many, if not all, sample preparation operations and nucleic acid amplification into a single reaction chambe...

Recently, there has been a growing interest in point-of-care devices capable of detecting nucleic acids (NA) in clinical and environmental samples. Nucleic acid detection requires, however, various sample preparation steps that complicate device operation. An attractive remedy is to integrate many, if not all, sample preparation operations and nucleic acid amplification into a single reaction c...

A high sensitive voltammetric method for rapid determination of thrombin spiked in whole blood by taking advantage of both aptamer-based recognition and the use of a nanoporous membrane has been developed. The nanoporous membrane not only acts as platform for the thrombin recognition but also as filter of the micrometric components such as white and red blood cells, consequently minimizing matr...

Low-cost paper-based assays are emerging as the platform for diagnostics worldwide. Paper does not, however, readily enable advanced functionality required for complex diagnostics, such as analyte concentration and controlled analyte transport. That is, after the initial wetting, no further analyte manipulation is possible. Here, we demonstrate active concentration and transport of analytes in ...

A new kind of polymer-based sensor is described in which the experimental parameters controlling selectivity and sensitivity are decoupled. The sensor is based on a surface acoustic wave (SAW) gravimetric transducer modified with a high-surface-area, nanoporous alumina coating. A very thin ( approximately 40 nm) poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) coating resides atop the porous alumina structure. In...

Understanding the relevant permeability properties of ultrafiltration membranes is facilitated by using materials and procedures that allow a high degree of control on morphology and chemical composition. Here we present the first study on diffusion permeability through gyroid nanoporous cross-linked 1,2-polybutadiene (1,2-PB) membranes with uniform pores that, if needed, can be rendered hydrop...

In this work we describe a novel and simple self-assembly process of colloidal silica beads to create a nanofluidic junction between two microchannels. The nanoporous membrane was used to induce ion concentration polarization inside the microchannel and this electrokinetic preconcentration system allowed rapid concentration of DNA samples by ~1700 times and of protein samples by ~100 times with...

We report the fabrication of a novel titania membrane of the dual-pore system that is strategically designed and prepared by a two-step replication process and sol-gel reaction. The primary nanoporous channel structure is fabricated by the cage-like PMMA template (CPT) obtained from the nanoporous alumina membrane and the secondary mesoporous structure is formed by the sol-gel reaction of the l...

In this project, we study SiC nanoporous membranes, which exhibit the potential to overcome many of the difficulties other inorganic membranes face, particularly under conditions typically encountered in reactive separations for H2 production, and in fuel-cell applications. In particular, we systematically investigate and further develop the technique of pre-ceramic polymer pyrolysis to produce...