A novel optical detection system consisting of combination of uricase/HRP-CdS quantum dots (QDs) for the determination of uric acid in urine sample is described. The QDs was used as an indicator to reveal fluorescence property of the system resulting from enzymatic reaction of uricase and HRP (horseradish peroxidase), which is involved in oxidizing uric acid to allaintoin and hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide produced was able to quench the QDs fluorescence, which was proportional to uric acid concentration. The system demonstrated sufficient activity of uricase and HRP at a ratio of 5U:5U and pH 7.0. The linearity of the system toward uric acid was in the concentration range of 125-1000 µM with detection limit of 125 µM.

A label-free optical detection method based on PNA/DNA hybridization using unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for dengue virus detection has been successfully developed. In this study, no immobilization method is involved and the hybridization of PNA/DNA occurs directly in solution. Unmodified AuNPs undergo immediate aggregation in the presence of neutral charge peptide nucleic acid (PNA) due to the coating of PNA on AuNPs surface. However, in the presence of complementary targets DNA, the hybridization of PNA probe with target DNA forms negatively charged complexes due to the negatively charged phosphate backbone of the target DNA. The negatively charged complexes adsorbed onto the AuNPs surface ensure sufficient charge repulsion, need for AuNPs dispersion, and stability in solution. The detection procedure is a naked eye method based on immediate color changes and also through UV-vis adsorption spectra. The selectivity of the proposed method was studied successfully by single base mismatch and noncomplementary target DNA.

A semiconducting water-soluble core-shell quantum dots (QDs) system capped with thiolated ligand was used in this study for the sensitive detection of glucose in aqueous samples. The QDs selected are of CdSe-coated ZnS and were prepared in house based on a hot injection technique. The formation of ZnS shell at the outer surface of CdSe core was made via a specific process namely, SILAR (successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction). The distribution, morphology, and optical characteristics of the prepared core-shell QDs were assessed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and spectrofluorescence, respectively. From the analysis, the results show that the mean particle size of prepared QDs is in the range of 10–12 nm and that the optimum emission condition was displayed at 620 nm. Further, the prepared CdSe/ZnS core shell QDs were modified by means of a room temperature ligand-exchange method that involves six organic ligands, L-cysteine, L-histidine, thio-glycolic acid (TGA or mercapto-acetic acid, MAA), mercapto-propionic acid (MPA), mercapto-succinic acid (MSA), and mercapto-undecanoic acid (MUA). This process was chosen in order to maintain a very dense water solubilizing environment around the QDs surface. From the analysis, the results show that the CdSe/ZnS capped with TGA (CdSe/ZnS-TGA) exhibited the strongest fluorescence emission as compared to others; hence, it was tested further for the glucose detection after their treatment with glucose oxidase (GOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzymes. Here in this study, the glucose detection is based on the fluorescence quenching effect of the QDs, which is correlated to the oxidative reactions occurred between the conjugated enzymes and glucose. From the analysis of results, it can be inferred that the resultant GOx:HRP/CdSe/ZnS-TGA QDs system can be a suitable platform for the fluorescence-based determination of glucose in the real samples.

An amperometric biosensor for the quantitative measurement of glucose is reported. The biosensor is based on a biocomposite that is homogeneous and easily prepared. This biocomposite is made of polyethylene glycol (PEG), Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), glucose oxidase (GOx), and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) nanoparticles. Effect of applied potential, pH, nanocomposite layer, ratio of zirconium oxide nanoparticles (ZrO2) to polyethylene glycol (PEG), concentration of ferrocenecarboxaldehyde (Fc) and concentration of enzyme that governed the analytical performance of the biosensor have been studied. The biosensor was applied to detect glucose with a linear calibration range from 0.1 mM to 12 mM and limit of detection 0.04 mM. The variation coefficient (RSD) for repeatability was 7.5% for ten successive assays while 6.01% (n = 5) for reproducibility test demonstrating that the biosensor fabrication process is reproducible. Common interfering compounds on the amperometric response of the sensor were investigated and discussed herein.

In this study, the applications of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and its role in advanced sensings has been explored. The CdSe/ZnS was synthesized by using hot injection method with the shell ZnS layer was made using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The morphology of the CdSe/ZnS QDs was studied using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and the average particle size was in 10-12 nm range. The prepared QDs were optically characterized using spectrofluorescence and strong emission was observed at 620 nm. Comparison of the fluorescence emissions of CdSe/ZnS capped with various capping ligands such as L-cysteine, thioglycolic acid (TGA), mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) and mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) were studied. The CdSe/ZnS capped with TGA gave the strongest fluorescence emission compared to others.