There is an increasing interest in the generation of well-defined nanoparticles (NPs) not only because of their size-related particular properties, but also because they are promising building blocks for more complex materials in nanotechnology. Here, we will shortly introduce the gas phase synthesis technology that has evolved rapidly in the last years and allows the fabrication of complex NPs with controllable and tuneable chemical composition and structure while keeping very good control over the size distribution. We will also address some limitations of the technology (stability over time, production yield…) and discuss possible solutions.

A novel label-free electrochemical strategy for nucleic acid detection was developed by using gold electrodes coated with mesoporous silica thin films as sensing interface. The biosensing approach relies on the covalent attachment of a capture DNA probe on the surface of the silica nanopores and further hybridization with its complementary target oligonucleotide sequence, causing a diffusion hindering of an Fe(CN)6 (3-/4-) electrochemical probe through the nanochannels of the mesoporous film. This DNA-mesoporous silica thin film-modified electrodes allowed sensitive (91.7 A/M) and rapid (45 min) detection of low nanomolar levels of synthetic target DNA (25 fmol) and were successfully employed to quantify the endogenous content of Escherichia coli 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) directly in raw bacterial lysate samples without isolation or purification steps. Moreover, the 1-month stability demonstrated by these biosensing devices enables their advanced preparation and storage, as desired for practical real-life applications. Graphical abstract Mesoporous silica thin films as scaffolds for the development of novel label-free electrochemical genosensors to perform selective, sensitive and rapid detection of target oligonucleotide sequences. Application towards E. coli determination.

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A novel electrochemical assay to quantify transglutaminase activity is reported. The assay is based on the enzyme-controlled diffusion of Fe(CN)6(3-/4-) through amino-functionalized nanochannels of a mesoporous silica thin film on a Au surface in the presence of N-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-glutaminylglycine.