Current Physical Chemistry - Volume 1, Issue 4, 2011

I take great pleasure in offering to the readers of Current Physical Chemistry this special issue on Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology in DNA detection. DNA detection is of considerable importance in view of various applications in, e.g., biomedical and forensic contexts. In current post polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [please specify what this acronym stands for] era, the main focus is on highly selective and sensitive m Read More

This article focuses on recent advances and developments of field effect transistor (FET) devices for detecting DNA recognition events such as hybridization, SNP genotyping and primer extension. The unique features of FET biosensors highlight the potential advantages for high-throughput detection of DNA molecules in a label-free manner. In particular, FET devices represent a potential platform for the development of the Read More

This paper reviews reports that have considered temperature as an important parameter in electrochemical DNA detection. Only a couple of years after the electrochemical activity of DNA had been discovered in 1958, oscillopolarography in a thermostated cell was applied to study thermal behavior of DNA double strands. DNA premelting was discovered and denaturation curve analysis established. Later it was found that he Read More

The electroactivity of DNA was discovered in 1958 by Emil Palecek. Since then a great progress and development have been done in electrochemistry of nucleic acids at various electrodes. In this review, after brief overview of milestones in research in electrochemistry, a history of electroanalysis of DNA follows. Then, the attention is paid to various electrochemical methods using a mercury electrode as a workin Read More

The use of nanomaterials in many life sciences for biological, pharmaceutical, clinical and environmental applications has attracted great attention. Among these nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are widely used due to their good chemical, mechanical, electrical, optical and thermal properties. CNTs are also superior to other carbon-based materials mainly in special structure features. These advantages make CNTs ve Read More

Kinetic theory is used to predict the pressure within a sessile droplet containing a suspension of nanometer sized particles. The effect of an applied electric field upon the contact angle is examined. The applied electric field decreases the contact angle of the droplet by lowering the pressure within the droplet. The phenomenon of contact angle saturation is not predicted. It is seen that the pressure reductions required to decr Read More

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) represents a dipolar aprotic solvent which incorporates a strongly polar sulfoxide group and two hydrophobic methyl moieties. Owing to its beneficial properties including low toxicity and environmental compatibility, DMSO has been and still is widely used as a solvent in industry as well as research. Applications can be found in many different areas ranging from medicine and biotechnology to el Read More

Micellization of several monomeric surfactants in water-polar organic solvent mixtures has been investigated by different authors. The gradual replacement of water with other polar solvents allows one to explore the effects of solvent addition on the self-aggregation process in a wide bulk phase composition. For those polar organic solvents which are localized mainly in the bulk phase of the micellar solutions (they do not in Read More