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Metal plasmonic nanostructures have promising applications in biosensing due to their ability to facilitate light-matter interaction. However, the damping of the metal leads to a wide full width at half maximum (FWHM) spectrum and results which restricts its sensing capabilities. In this research, we present a novel non-full-metal nanostructure, namely indium-tin oxide (ITO)-Au nanodisk arrays consisting of top ITO nanodisk arrays and a bottom gold layer, and compare the coupling mode with the full-metal nanodisk arrays. The FWHM of proposed ITO-Au nanodisk array reduces to one fifth of that all metal nanodisk arrays, which is generated mode-coupling by surface plasmon modes at metal interfaces with magnetic resonance mode. Furthermore, the thickness variation of nanodisks has no impact on the sensing performance of this ITO-based nanostructure, ensuring excellent tolerance during preparation. We fabricated both structures by using template transfer and vacuum deposition techniques and calibrated their sensing performances by detect Immunoglobulin G (IgG) protein molecules. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that ITO-Au nanodisk arrays provide an effective solution for biosensing applications.

A sandwich type titled fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) plasmonic sensor based on self-assembled p-mercaptophenylboronic acid (PMBA) monolayer and Au nanoparticles (AuNPs), has been demonstrated and successfully applied for sensitive and stable low-concentration glucose detection. The sensor was immobilized with PMBA monolayer acting as the highly sensitive and stable glucose recognition molecule instead of a traditional unstable enzyme. In the experiments, the high sensitivity for glucose detection is achieved, establishing a competitive limit of detection (LOD) of 295 pM and large dynamic measurement range from 1 nM to 10 mM simultaneously. Moreover, due to the unique two-set diol configurations of glucose, the combination of TFBG-SPR with AuNPs and PMBA exhibit a good selectivity over fructose and galactose, which both possess only one set of diol configurations. Non-invasive saliva glucose detection, as a better alternative to blood, has emerged and attracted many researchers’ attention. Therefore, the practicality of this method was successfully validated by detecting glucose in a simulated human saliva sample. We believe that this method represents an appealing solution for flexible, temperature-insensitive, high-sensitivity, and high-stability detection of ultra-low concentration glucose in modern non-invasive point-of-care testing as well as tumor micro-environment (TME) related cancer research.

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BACKGROUND: The current study aimed to explore the value of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO), and pulmonary function in the management of asthmatic children. METHODS: One hundred children diagnosed with asthma were selected as research subjects. Patients were divided into a 3–5-year-old group and a group with children 6 years and older. They were also grouped depending on whether they had asthma alone (A0 group) or whether their asthma was complicated with allergic rhinitis (A+AR group). The FeNO, eCO levels, and pulmonary function in the acute attack period were analyzed 1 month after treatment and clinical remission period. RESULTS: Asthmatic children demonstrated greater pulmonary dysfunction and significantly higher FeNO and eCO during the acute attack phase compared to both one month after treatment and clinical remission. The remission phase was characterized by decreased levels of FeNO and eCO and improvement of pulmonary function. The eCO levels in children aged 3–5 years old, and both FeNO and eCO levels in children 6 years and older were statistically lower during remission regardless of whether the patients had asthma alone or asthma complicated with rhinitis. However, 10% of the 100 children in the clinical remission period still demonstrated mid to high levels of FeNO. The critical value of FeNO levels during the acute period in children 6 years and older with asthma and rhinitis was 34.5 ppb (AUROC 0.814, 95% CI: 0.684–0.944) with a sensitivity of 69.2% and specificity of 93.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic monitoring of FeNO and eCO is an effective indicator of airway inflammation and thus represents an important clinical tool in assessing the severity of asthma in children.

Purpose To evaluate the noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) results of 36,913 cases in Jiangxi province of central China and explore its application value in prenatal screening and diagnosis. Methods This retrospective analysis included 36,913 singleton pregnant women who underwent NIPT because of moderate-/high-risk pregnancy or voluntary requirements between January 2017 and December 2019 in our hospital. Chromosomal abnormalities such as trisomies 21, 18, and 13 (T21, T18, T13) and sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) were judged by standard Z-score analysis. Positive NIPT results were confirmed by amniocentesis and karyotyping. Pregnancy outcomes were followed up via telephone interview. Results A total of 1.01% (371/36,913) positive cases were detected by NIPT, comprising 137, 46, 31, and 157 cases of T21, T18, T13, and SCAs, respectively. A total of 116 of T21, 27 of T18, 13 of T13, and 51 of SCAs were confirmed to be true positive; all normal cases that had been followed up were verified to be true negative. The NIPT sensitivity in T21, T18, T13, and SCAs was 100.00% individually, whereas the specificity was 99.94% (36,488/36,509), 99.95% (36,579/36,598), 99.95% (36,594/36,612), and 99.72% (36,472/36,574), respectively. Furthermore, the negative predictive values of T21, T18, T13, and SCAs were all 100%, while the positive predictive values were 84.67%, 58.70%, 41.94%, and 33.33%, respectively. Conclusion NIPT is highly sensitive and has a low false positive rate in testing clinically significant fetal aneuploidies of general reproductive women. However, this technique cannot substitute for amniocentesis and karyotyping, and detailed genetic counseling is also essential for the high-risk group of NIPT.

Background We report a pair of dichorionic diamniotic (DCDA) twin pregnancy affected by Noonan syndrome (NS) with a novel mutation of LZTR1 determined by genetic analysis. Case presentation A pregnant woman with monozygotic twins (DCDA) at 12 + 2 weeks gestation was referred to our center. This was her second pregnancy following a previous delivery of a healthy infant. Nuchal translucency of two fetuses was 11.2 mm (CRL 62.0 mm) and 6.9 mm (CRL 62.1 mm) respectively. Ultrasound examination indicated cystic hygroma and hypoplastic ear. The couple was not consanguineous, and both had normal phenotype. Familial hereditary disease was also excluded. Under ultrasound guidance, 30 mg of chorionic villi was obtained for karyotyping, quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR), chromosomal microarray analysis(CMA), and Trio-whole-exome sequencing(WES) examination. We used the “target region capture and sequencing” for WES, and the BWA (Burrows Wheeler Aligner) Multi-Vision software package for the data analysis. The results of all these tests were normal except WES detected a c.427 A > G mutation in the exonic region of the LZTR1 gene and a p. Asn143Asp novel heterozygous mutation associated with NS in this pair of twins. In addition, WES suggested that the mutation in the twin fetuses originated from the mother. When the mother got the genetic test report, she came to our fetal medicine department for genetic counseling and she declined the appointment with a clinical geneticist. The couple opted to terminate the pregnancy. Because the patient did not choose to terminate the pregnancy at our hospital, we were unable to take further examination. With the help of colleagues in another hospital, photos of the fetuses were taken. Compared with the prenatal ultrasound results, the appearance of the “cystic hygroma” and “hypoplastic ear” was consistent with the ultrasound. The couple were depressed after knowing this pathogenic result and although we advised the mother to take further investigation, they refused. Conclusion The mutant locus might be incompletely dominant, which led to an abnormal fetal phenotype such as cystic hygroma and hypoplastic ear.

Sialic acid (SA) exists as a sialic acid complex and participates in a variety of important physiological functions of the body, such as cell recognition. The increase in the concentration of sialic acid in human biological samples exceeds the normal concentration and is related to the development of various cancers. The SPR based label-free detection of small targeted molecules is a great challenge and require substantial signal amplification for the accurate and precise quantification. We have developed an SA sensor based on boric acid fiber-optic SPR in the form of Sialic acid. The signal enhancement technology of 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid (MPBA) modified gold nanoprobe is used for the high-sensitivity detection of sialic acid. Under optimal conditions, the SA concentration has a linear relationship between 0.0001 and 1 mM. The detection limit reached 100 nM. Fiber-based SPR sensing technology not only has high sensitivity and detection, but also avoids damage to biological samples, which has a wide range of application potential in biological non-destructive sensing.

To explore the genetic basis for a Chinese pedigree affected with N-acetylglutamate synthase deficiency.Trio whole exome sequencing (WES) was carried out for the pedigree. Pathogenicity of the identified variant was predicted based on the latest recommendation of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG). Prenatal diagnosis was provided for subsequent pregnancy through Sanger sequencing.Trio WES showed that the proband has carried compound heterozygous c.68delG and c.796GC variants of NAGS gene, for which the mother and father were respectively heterozygous carriers. Neither variant was reported previously. Based on the ACMG guidelines, the c.68delG variant was classified as "likely pathogenic" (PVS1+PM2), while the c.796GC variant was classified as with "uncertain significance" (PM2+BP4). Sanger sequencing validated the above findings, and only detected the heterozygous c.796GC variant in the amniotic fluid sample. The fetus was followed up till 6 month after birth with no obvious abnormality.The compound heterozygous c.68delG and c.796GC variants of the NAGS gene probably underlay the disorder in this pedigree, and the resulth asenabled genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for this pedigree.

As a highly toxic heavy metal ion, divalent mercuric ion (Hg2+) is one of the most widely diffused and hazardous environmental pollutants. In this work, a simple, portable, and inexpensive fiber-optic sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect was developed for Hg2+ detection, which takes advantage of 4-mercaptopyridine (4-MPY)-functionalized Au nanoparticles (Au NPs/4-MPY) as a signal amplification tag. Based on the coordination between Hg2+ and nitrogen in the pyridine moiety, we developed the sensor by self-assembling 4-MPY on Au film surfaces to capture Hg2+ and then introducing Au NPs/4-MPY to generate a plasmonic coupling structure with the configuration of nanoparticle-on-mirror. The coupling between localized SPR increased changes in SPR wavelength, which allowed highly sensitive Hg2+ sensing in aqueous solution. The sensor exhibited superior selectivity for Hg2+ detection compared with other common metal ions in water. The sensor's Hg2+ detection limit is 8 nM under optimal conditions. Furthermore, we validated the sensor's practicality for Hg2+ detection in tap water samples and demonstrated its potential application for environmental water on-site monitoring.

A novel red–green dual color fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on smartphone has been proposed. Instead of using narrowband filters or diffraction gratings to get spectral data as those smartphone-based SPR sensors reported so far, we propose to utilize the inherent color selectivity of phone cameras to monitor red and green color channels simultaneously, which can reduce the chance of false detection and improve the sensitivity. An Ag/Au bilayer structure SPR sensor was employed in order to perform SPR at the central region of the visible spectrum in aqueous environment and improve the sensitivity. Experimental results show that it has a quadratic response in the refractive index (RI) range of 1.325–1.344 ( $R^{2}=0.992$ ) and a linear response in the RI range of 1.325–1.330, with a sensitivity of 18.59/RIU and a resolution of $5.3\times 10^{-4}$ RIU. This novel SPR sensor has great potential as point-of-care and point-of-need platforms for healthcare, food safety, and environmental monitoring, especially in remote and rural areas.

MicroRNA (miRNA) regulates gene expression and plays a fundamental role in multiple biological processes. However, if both single-stranded RNA and DNA can bind with capture DNA on the sensing surface, selectively amplifying the complementary RNA signal is still challenging for researchers. Fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors are small, accurate, and convenient tools for monitoring biological interaction. In this paper, we present a high sensitivity microRNA detection technique using phenylboronic acid functionalized Au nanoparticles (PBA-AuNPs) in fiber-optic SPR sensing systems. Due to the inherent difficulty directly detecting the hybridized RNA on the sensing surface, the PBA-AuNPs were used to selectively amplify the signal of target miRNA. The result shows that the method has high selectivity and sensitivity for miRNA, with a detection limit at 2.7 × 10–13 M (0.27 pM). This PBA-AuNPs amplification strategy is universally applicable for RNA detection with various sensing technologies, ...

Boronic acid and its derivatives have shown special capability to cis-diols groups such as glycoprotein and carbohydrate, which has been widely investigated and applied in practical disease diagnosis. Fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors with tiny size are very accurate and convenient tools for monitoring the surface interaction in real time. In this paper, phenylboronic acids (PBA) were formed on the sensing surface by coating the fiber surface with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) with long and short alkyl groups. Compared with commercial available 4-mercaptophenyboronic acid, PBA with long carbon chain provided more flexible space in binding process and achieved much higher sensitivity to glycoprotein. Furthermore, PBA SAM showed much stronger response for Concanavalin A (ConA) than the traditional protein-protein interaction. The limit of detection for ConA was as low as 0.29 nM by L-PBA SAM modified fiber-optic SPR sensors. Finally, we tested different regeneration solutions to remove glycoprotein from the sensor surface and found that only acidic environment was not enough and the protein denaturant such as ethanol or urea was essential for glycoprotein dissociation.

We report a dual-band perfect absorber based on nanodisk array for sensing application in the visible region. Due to the excitation of the magnetic resonance mode, a narrow band absorption peak appears and the absorption rate is greater than 99.9%. The other is due to the excitation of local surface plasmon resonance mode, exhibiting broadband absorption characteristics, and the absorption value is greater than 80%. This structure has a wide angular range absorption characteristic. Finally, we calculated the sensing performance of the structure with refractive index ranging from 1.33 to 1.37. The refractive index sensitivity is 250 nm/RIU and 170 nm/RIU. Therefore, our research provides an important theoretical guidance for narrow-band absorption in the visible region for sensing measurements. This has important application prospects in imaging, sensing and optoelectronic devices.

A label-free Au NPs-enhanced surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor was developed for the ultrasensitive detection of heparin based on competitive adsorption behavior of heparin and Au NPs on the poly (dimethyl-diallylammonium chloride) (PDDA)-modified optical fiber surface and the corresponding change in the resonance wavelength of SPR. Due to the high affinity between heparin and PDDA, the present senor shows good analytical performance with respect to heparin detection. Two obvious advantages of the proposed heparin sensor over other reported methods are: its much wider linear concentration range (10−6-10−10 g/mL) and lower limit of detection (0.0257 ng/mL). The analysis of heparin in serum demonstrated that the present sensor exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity. It should be noted that the sensing strategy takes advantage of a portable fiber-optic SPR sensing system and avoids the need for complex processes for labeled-Au NPs, and thus the present sensor promises to be a practical tool for the point-of-care monitoring of heparin.

Plasmonic nanostructures have proven an extensive practical prospect in ultra-sensitive label-free biomolecule sensing due to their nanoscale localization and large near-field enhancement. Here, we demonstrate a photonic plasmonic hybridization in the self-aligned disk/hole nanocavity array under two specific cases of nanogap and nanooverlap achieved by adjusting pillar height embedded into hole. The proposed disk/hole arrays in above two cases exhibit three hybridized modes with extremely high absorption, mainly arising from the in-phase (bonding) and out-of-phase (antibonding) coupling of dipolar modes of their parent disk and hole. Surprisingly, when the nanogap feature of the disk/hole array is transformed to the nanooverlap, crossing the quantum effect region, the bonding mode in the disk/hole array has an enormous transition in the resonant frequency. In comparison with the counterpart in the nanogap structure, the bonding mode in the nanooverlap structure supports strongest near-field localization (i.e., the decay length down to merely 3.8 nm), although charge transfer channel provided by the geometry connect between disk and hole quenches partial field enhancement. Furthermore, we systematically investigate the sensing performances of multiple hybridized modes in above two cases by considering two crucial evaluating parameters, bulk refractive index sensitivity and surface sensitivity. It is demonstrated that, in the nanogap structure, the bonding mode possesses both high bulk refractive index sensitivity and surface sensitivity. Dissimilarly, for the nanooverlap structure, the bonding and antibonding modes show different surface sensitivities in different regions away from the surface, which can be used to monitoring different bio-molecular sizes and achieve the most optimum sensitivity. Due to its unique sensing features, this disk/hole array mechanism is very valuable and promising for developing of high sensitivity sensing platform.

We demonstrated a fiber optic localized surface plasmon resonance (FO-LSPR) biosensor based on smartphone platform. By immobilizing gold nanoparticles (GNPs) on an unclad portion of optical fiber probe, we developed a kind of LSPR sensor of GNPs. Transmission intensity variation at the end face of FO-LSPR sensor was monitored in real time using a smartphone. The sensor prototype provide linear response with 3.8×10−5 RIU resolution in a refractive index (RI) range of 1.333-1.403. This biosensor device can be further developed for universal promising applications in public health and environmental monitoring.

We proposed a compact and cost-effective red–green dual-color fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on the smartphone. Inherent color selectivity of phone cameras was utilized for real-time monitoring of red and green color channels simultaneously, which can reduce the chance of false detection and improve the sensitivity. Because there are no external prisms, complex optical lenses, or diffraction grating, simple optical configuration is realized. It has a linear response in a refractive index range of 1.326 to 1.351 ([Formula: see text]) with a resolution of [Formula: see text]. We apply it for immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration measurement. Experimental results demonstrate that a linear SPR response was achieved for IgG concentrations varying from 0.02 to [Formula: see text] with good repeatability. It may find promising applications in the fields of public health and environment monitoring owing to its simple optics design and applicability in real-time, label-free biodetection.

A highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is reported for glucose detection using self-assembled p-mercaptophenylboronic acid (PMBA) monolayer on Au coated optical fibers. The cis-diol group of saccharides, such as for glucose, interacted with the self-assembled PMBA monolayers on the optical fibers, but the low molecular mass of glucose is insufficient for measuring a significant shift in SPR wavelength. The response for glucose was thus enhanced with Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) modified with 2-aminoethanethiol (AET) and PMBA. Selectivity was assured since glucose has the ability to capture the signal amplification tags (Au NPs/AET- PMBA) through secondary binding with another set of syn-periplanar diol groups and the PMBA on the gold surface. Accordingly, a glucose concentration-dependent sandwich structure was formed and the coupling between Au NPs and Au film results in the red shift of SPR resonance wavelength. The experimental results demonstrated that this SPR sensor responded to glucose within a range of 0.01–30 mM better than to fructose and galactose. The minimum concentration for quantify glucose is as low as 80 nM, which is lower than the physiological blood glucose level. Glucose was then accurately detected in urine sample, which indicated the potential application of the sensor for the analysis of glucose in urine. We believe that our proposed PMBA-modified single amplification tag and sensing principle can also be used for biomolecules consisting of carbohydrate structures, particularly for DNA-associated bioanalysis.

A highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor for glucose detection has been proposed by using self-assembled p-mercaptophenylboronic acid (PMBA) monolayer on Au coated tilted fiber Bragg grating. Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) were modified with 2-aminoethanethiol (AET) and PMBA for signal amplification. It exhibits high sensitivity and selective response to glucose over fructose and galactose within the range of 1μM–500μM and the sensitivity is up to 2.61dB/μM.

Plasmonic nanostructures have become the most promising candidates for biosensing applications because of their miniature sizes, ease of integration, and high-throughput detection. Both propagating and localized surface plasmon modes in the nanostructures have been used for sensing and biomolecular detection. However, to maximize the biosensing potential of nanostructures, the choice of an optimized sensing detection strategy among two plasmon modes depends on the relationship between the biomolecule sizes and field decay length of plasmon modes. Here, we propose and investigate plasmonic coupling on a single-crystalline gold film, wherein there are two distinct optical modes, a gap mode (localized surface plasmon) originating from the parallel coupling of a nanoring and a surface lattice mode (propagating surface plasmon) originating from the anti-parallel coupling of a nanoring in an array. The sensing performances of the above two modes are thoroughly investigated and compared by considering two aspects, i.e., bulk and surface sensitivities. It is demonstrated that there is a reciprocal relationship between bulk and surface sensitivities for two modes, which also illustrates that the surface sensitivity is indispensable to fully describe the sensing performance of nanostructures. Furthermore, due to their different decay lengths, the gap and surface lattice modes on a single optical substrate can achieve simultaneous detection of target analytes with various sizes. Therefore, we can provide a high performance sensing platform based on a metallic nanoring array for a broad range of biomolecules with various sizes.

To establish the median databases of serum markers for Down's syndrome screening during the second trimester of pregnancy women in the north-central area of Jiangxi Province. Methods: Time-resolved fluorometry was used to detect the serum contents of AFP free β-hCG and uE3 in 57 548 pregnant women during 15-20 gestational weeks. Risk evaluation was conducted by LifeCycle 4.0. SAS 9.2 software was used to establish a model of the median fitted equation. The newly constructed median system was used to reassess the risk of Down's syndrome development in pregnant women. Results: The medianand built in medianof north-central region in Jiangxi Province are significantly different (Z=2.201, P=0.028). The relationship between the median of the triple index and the gestational age was analyzed by the weight regression model. The relationship between the MoM value and the weight was used to calculate the reciprocal model. The median of the new system was more efficiency than the built in median. In the median of the new system than the reference, the detection rate improved from 62.75% to 72.55%, false positive rate reduced by 5.84% to 4.94%. Conclusion: The newly constructed median system is suitable for Down's syndrome screening in the north-central region of Jiangxi Province.目的：建立江西省中北部地区孕中期唐氏综合征(Down’s syndrome，DS)产前筛查血清学标志物中位数数据库。方法：采用时间分辨免疫荧光法对57 548例孕15~20+6周孕妇进行甲胎蛋白(AFP)、游离绒毛膜促性腺激素(β-hCG)和游离雌三醇(uE3)血清学三联筛查，应用LifeCycle 4.0软件进行风险评估。使用SAS 9.2软件进行模型筛选，构建江西省中北部地区孕中期DS筛查人群中位数拟合方程，采用新构建的中位数系统重新评估人群患DS风险，并评估其适用性。结果：江西省中北部地区中位数与内置中位数分布不同，差异有统计学意义(Z=2.201，P=0.028)，经模型筛选，三联指标中位数与孕龄的关系采用加权回归模型拟合，三联指标中位数倍数(MoM值)与体重的关系采用倒数模型，拟合效果好；新构建的中位数系统较内置系统检出率由62.75%提高到72.55%，假阳性率由5.84%降低至4.94%。结论：新构建的江西省中北部地区孕中期中位数系统适用于本地区筛查，各地区应建立自己的血清标志物中位数系统以提高筛查效率。.

In this paper, we fully investigate a nonlinear device based on a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) coated with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). We found that the non-linear optical properties were significantly effective in 6 degree tilted fiber Bragg grating and ∼1.3um thickness. The signal noise to ratio (SNR) of the FWM is up to 10.11dB.

Self-assembled nanostructures of α,ω-dihexylsexithiophene (DH6T) formed by spreading DH6T solutions onto freshly cleaved mica surface were studied by atomic force microscopy. The effects of solvent and concentration on the nanostructures of DH6T molecules were studied. Flat, well-ordered, and platelet-like domains were observed on mica surfaces after treatment with various polar solvent solutions of DH6T. These domains form a uniform film with height of 2.4 ± 0.2 nm, which is consistent with a 45° tilt in the molecular conformation of DH6T on mica surfaces. The formation mechanism of these multilayers is discussed in detail.

Sensitive and accurate determination of a small quantity of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is of great importance in environmental analysis. In this article, a novel strategy for fabrication of H2O2 sensor was developed by electrodepositing silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on a DNA–multiwalled carbon nanotubes (DNA-MWCNTs) composites–modified glassy carbon electrode. Experimental results showed that the constructed electrode had an excellent catalytic ability for the reduction of H2O2, suggesting that it could be used as a sensor to detect H2O2. The good catalytic activity was ascribed to the DNA-MWCNTs composites that resulted in the formation of small Ag NPs and homogenous distribution of these Ag NPs. The sensor showed a high sensitivity, wide linear range, and good stability, and thus it could be used as an ideal tool in environmental engineering.

The two-dimensional polymerization and reaction at the solid/liquid interface has caused considerable attention in recent years because of its fundamental importance and many potential applications. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) provides the possibility for the observation and manipulation of polymerization and reaction occurring at the solid/liquid interface at the atomic level. Two-dimensional polymerization and reaction could be induced by external stimuli, such as electrochemistry-induced, STM tip-induced, or light-induced. The polymerization at the solid/liquid interface is the focus of this review, including the mechanism of polymerization and characterization of structural and electrical properties of the resulting polymers. Finally, the outlooks for developments in this field are described.

In this work, zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles had been synthesized on DNA network/mica and mica surface, respectively. The synthesis was carried out by first dropping a mixture of zinc acetate and DNA on a mica surface for the formation of the DNA networks or zinc acetate solution on a mica surface, and subsequently transferring the sample into a heated thiourea solution. The Zn2+ adsorbed on DNA network/mica or mica surface would react with S2− produced from thiourea and form ZnS nanoparticles on these surfaces. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to characterize the ZnS nanoparticles in detail. AFM results showed that ZnS nanoparticles distributed uniformly on the mica surface and deposited preferentially on DNA networks. It was also found that the size and density of ZnS nanoparticles could be effectively controlled by adjusting reaction temperature and the concentration of Zn2+ or DNA. The possible growth mechanisms have been discussed in detail.

Silver (Ag) electrodes were roughened by electrochemical oxidation–reduction cycles (ORC) in a KCl solution. The roughened Ag electrode exhibited a powerful electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Atomic force microscopy and electrochemical experiments confirmed that the electrocatalytic ability mainly resulted from the Ag nanoparticles produced in the process of ORC on the roughened Ag electrode. The electrochemical behaviors of the roughened Ag electrodes toward the reduction of H2O2 and the factors related to that reduction were investigated in detail.