Ionic Self-assembled Multilayer Research Articles

The Application of a Nanomaterial Optical Fiber Biosensor Assay for Identification of Brucella Nomenspecies.

Bacteria in the genus Brucella are the cause of brucellosis in humans and many domestic and wild animals. A rapid and culture-free detection assay to detect Brucella in clinical samples would be highly valuable. Nanomaterial optical fiber biosensors (NOFS) are capable of recognizing DNA hybridization events or other analyte interactions with high specificity and sensitivity. Therefore, a NOFS assay was developed to detect Brucella DNA from cultures and in tissue samples from infected mice. An ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) film was coupled to a long-period grating optical fiber, and a nucleotide probe complementary to the Brucella IS711 region and modified with biotin was bound to the ISAM by covalent conjugation. When the ISAM/probe duplex was exposed to lysate containing ≥100 killed cells of Brucella, or liver or spleen tissue extracts from Brucella-infected mice, substantial attenuation of light transmission occurred, whereas exposure of the complexed fiber to non-Brucella gram-negative bacteria or control tissue samples resulted in negligible attenuation of light transmission. Oligonucleotide probes specific for B. abortus, B. melitensis, and B. suis could also be used to detect and differentiate these three nomenspecies. In summary, the NOFS biosensor assay detected three nomenspecies of Brucella without the use of polymerase chain reaction within 30 min and could specifically detect low numbers of this bacterium in clinical samples.

Identification of Histophilus somni by a nanomaterial optical fiber biosensor assay.

Histophilus somni is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for respiratory and systemic diseases of cattle and sheep. Rapid and accurate detection of H. somni is essential to distinguish H. somni from other potential pathogens for proper control and treatment of infections. Nanomaterial optical fiber biosensors (NOFS) recognize analyte interactions, such as DNA hybridization, with high specificity and sensitivity, and were applied to detect H. somni DNA in culture and clinical samples. An ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) film was fabricated on a long-period grating optical fiber, and a biotinylated, nucleotide probe complementary to the H. somni 16S rDNA gene was coupled to the ISAM film. Exposure of the ISAM::probe to ⩾100 killed cells of H. somni strain 2336 without DNA amplification resulted in attenuation of light transmission of ⩾9.4%. Exposure of the complexed fiber to Escherichia coli or non- H. somni species of Pasteurellaceae reduced light transmission by ⩽3.4%. Exposure of the ISAM::probe to blood, bronchoalveolar fluid, or spleen from mice or calves infected with H. somni resulted in ⩾24.3% transmission attenuation. The assay correctly detected all 6 strains of H. somni tested from culture, or tissues from 3 separate mice and calves tested in duplicate. Six heterologous strains (representing 6 genera) reacted at below the cutoff value of 4.87% attenuation of light transmission. NOFS detected at least 100 H. somni cells without DNA amplification within 45 min with high specificity. Although different fibers could vary in signal sensitivity, this did not affect the sensitivity or specificity of the assay.

Detection of methicillin-resistant staphylococci by biosensor assay consisting of nanoscale films on optical fiber long-period gratings.

Methicillin-resistance among Staphylococcus species is a major health problem in hospitals, communities, and animals. There is a need for culture-free diagnostic assays that can be carried out rapidly, and maintain a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. To address this need an ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) film was deposited on the surface of a long-period grating (LPG) optical fiber by immersion alternately in poly-allylamine hydrochloride and in poly-1-[p-(3'-carboxy-4'-hydroxyphenylazo) benzenesulfonamido]-1,2-ethandiyl (PCBS), resulting in terminal carboxyl groups on the LPG-ISAM. The terminal carboxyl groups were covalently conjugated to monoclonal antibodies (MAb) specific to penicillin-binding-protein 2a of methicillin resistant (MR) staphylococci. After exposure of the LPG-ISAM to 10(2) colony forming units (CFU)/ml of MR S. aureus (MRSA) for 50 min., light transmission was reduced by 19.7%. In contrast, after exposure to 10(6) CFU/ml of methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) attenuation of light transmission was less than 1.8%. Exposure of the LPG-ISAM to extracts of liver, lungs, or spleen from mice infected with MRSA attenuated light transmission by 11.7-73.5%. In contrast, exposure of the biosensor to extracts from MSSA-infected mice resulted in 5.6% or less attenuation of light transmission. When the sensor was tested with 36 strains of MR staphylococci, 15 strains of methicillin-sensitive staphylococci, 10 strains of heterologous genera (all at 10(4) CFU/ml), or tissue samples from mice infected with MRSA, there was complete agreement between MR and non-MR bacteria determined by antibiotic susceptibility testing and the biosensor assay when the cutoff value for attenuation of light transmission was 6.3%. Thus, the biosensor described has the potential to detect MR staphylococci in clinical samples with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity.

Effect of the Interface in Plasmon-enhanced Second Harmonic Generation from Nonlinear Optical Thin Films

AbstractThe second order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of two different ionic selfassembled multilayer (ISAM) films combined with Ag nanoparticles have been investigated. The plasmon resonances in the Ag particles concentrate the incident light, markedly increasing in the NLO efficiencies of the films. We find that the efficiency enhancement is significantly larger in conventional ISAM films compared to films made using a hybrid covalent ISAM technique (HCISAM), even though the intrinsic bulk second order non-linear susceptibility (χ(2)) is much larger for HCISAM films. We attribute this to the interfaces in HCISAM films being much easier to disrupt by external perturbations such as the metal deposition by which the nanoparticles are fabricated. We conclude that because the plasmon decay length is very short, the plasmonic enhancement of NLO effects primarily occurs at and near the film-particle interface. To discern the importance of the interfaces, we surrounded thin ISAM and HCISAM films with NLOinactive buffer layers, which confirmed this hypothesis, particularly in the case of HCISAM films.

Interface effects in plasmon-enhanced second-harmonic generation from self-assembled multilayer films

We have compared the plasmonic enhancement of second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties in two types of ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) films combined with Ag nanoparticles fabricated using nanosphere lithography (NSL). The light-concentrating properties of the Ag particles lead to a marked increase in the NLO efficiencies of thin ISAM films. The induced enhancement is found to be much larger in conventional ISAM films than in films made with the hybrid covalent ISAM technique (HCISAM), even though the latter have a significantly larger intrinsic bulk second-order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(2)). The plasmonic enhancement of NLO effects is shown to be primarily an interface effect due to the short decay length of the plasmon modes. The importance of interface effects in the films has been investigated by surrounding thin ISAM and HCISAM films with NLO-inactive buffer layers, which confirmed the important role played by the interfaces, particularly for the HCISAM films.

Millisecond switching in solid state electrochromic polymer devices fabricated from ionic self-assembled multilayers

The electrochromic switching times of solid state conducting polymer devices fabricated by the ionic self-assembled multilayer method has been investigated. The devices were composed of bilayers of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) on indium tin oxide substrates. Devices fabricated from 40 bilayer thick films have coloration and decolaration switching times of 31 and 6ms, respectively, with low applied voltage (1.4V) for an active area of 0.6cm2. The switching times have been shown to decrease with the active area of the electrochromic device suggesting that even faster electrochromic switching times are possible for devices with smaller areas.

Plasmon-Enhanced Second-Harmonic Generation from Ionic Self-Assembled Multilayer Films

We have demonstrated large enhancements of the effective second-order nonlinear susceptibility (chi(2)) of ionic self-assembled multilayer (ISAM) films, causing a film with just 3 bilayers to be optically equivalent to a 700-1000 bilayer film. This was accomplished by using nanosphere lithography to deposit silver nanoparticles on the ISAM film, tuning the geometry of the particles to make their plasmonic resonances overlap the frequency of optical excitation. An enhancement in the efficiency of second harmonic generation (SHG) by as much as 1600 times was observed. Even though this is already a large value, we suggest that further refinements of the techniques are expected to lead to additional enhancements of similar or larger magnitude.

Strong enhancement of optical absorbance from ionic self-assembled multilayer thin films of nanocluster Pt and polymer dye

The observation of unusually enhanced optical absorbance spectra of ionic self assembled multilayer (ISAM) thin films composed of alternating layers of Pt nanoclusters (<1 nm dimension) and polymer dye is reported. The first bilayer absorbance is found to be considerably larger than that of several succeeding bilayers even though there is no difference in composition for each bilayer. A layer-by-layer-dependent redshift in maximum wavelength position due to the strong coupling of metals and polymer molecules is observed. The saturation absorption is obtained for the first time when the required thickness of the ISAM film is deposited. The large and unusual enhancement effects are attributed to both the charge-transfer mechanism and very large local fields and collective phenomena near the surface of the small metal clusters/electrolytes and at the interfaces between the cluster/polymer multilayers.