Publications

Reduced graphene oxide electrodes meet lateral flow assays: A promising path to advanced point-of-care diagnostics

Enric Calucho, Ruslan Álvarez-Diduk*, Andrew Piper, Marianna Rossetti, Tarja K. Nevanen, Arben Merkoçi*. Biosensors and Bioelectronics
Research in electrochemical detection in lateral flow assays (LFAs) has gained significant momentum in recent years. The primary impetus for this surge in interest is the pursuit of achieving lower limits of detection, especially given that LFAs are the most widely employed point-of-care biosensors. Conventionally, the strategy for...

Low-cost Inkjet-Printed nanostructured biosensor based on CRISPR/Cas12a system for pathogen detection

Angela Gilda Carota, Andrea Bonini, Massimo Urban, Noemi Poma, Federico Maria Vivaldi, Arianna Tavanti, Marianna Rossetti, Giulio Rosati, Arben Merkoçi, Fabio Di Francesco. Biosensors and Bioelectronics
The escalating global incidence of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria, especially in developing countries, emphasises the urgent need for rapid and portable pathogen detection devices. This study introduces a sensitive and specific electrochemical biosensing platform utilising cost-effective electrodes fabricated by...

Harnessing Bioluminescent Bacteria to Develop an Enzymatic-free Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the Detection of Clinically Relevant Biomarkers

Liming Hu, Marianna Rossetti, José Francisco Bergua, Claudio Parolo, Ruslan Álvarez-Diduk, Lourdes Rivas, Andrea Idili*, and Arben Merkoçi*. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the gold standard technique for measuring protein biomarkers due to its high sensitivity, specificity, and throughput. Despite its success, continuous advancements in ELISA and immunoassay formats are crucial to meet evolving global challenges and to address new analytical needs in diverse...

Capacitive immunosensing at gold nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide electrodes fabricated by one-step laser nanostructuration

Danilo Echeverri, Enric Calucho, Jose Marrugo-Ramírez, Ruslán Álvarez-Diduk*, Jahir Orozco, Arben Merkoçi*. Biosensors and Bioelectronics
Nanostructured electrochemical biosensors have ushered in a new era of diagnostic precision, offering enhanced sensitivity and specificity for clinical biomarker detection. Among them, capacitive biosensing enables ultrasensitive label-free detection of multiple molecular targets. However, the complexity and cost associated with...

Unleashing inkjet-printed nanostructured electrodes and battery-free potentiostat for the DNA-based multiplexed detection of SARS-CoV-2 genes

Marianna Rossetti, Chawin Srisomwat, Massimo Urban, Giulio Rosati, Gabriel Maroli, Hatice Gödze Yaman Akbay, Orawon Chailapakul, Arben Merkoçi. Biosensors and Bioelectronics
Abstract Following the global COVID-19 pandemic triggered by SARS-CoV-2, the need for rapid, specific and cost-effective point-of-care diagnostic solutions remains paramount. Even though COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency, the disease still poses a global threat leading to deaths, and it continues to change with the...

Nanostructure Tuning of Gold Nanoparticles Films via Click Sintering

Massimo Urban, Giulio Rosati, Gabriel Maroli, Flavio Della Pelle, Andrea Bonini, Laszlo Sajti, Mariangela Fedel, Arben Merkoçi. Small
Colloidal metal nanoparticles dispersions are commonly used to create functional printed electronic devices and they typically require time-, energy- and equipment-consuming post-treatments to improve their electrical and mechanical properties. Traditional methods, e.g. thermal, UV/IR, and microwave treatments, limit the substrate...

The Cleanroom-Free, Cheap, and Rapid Fabrication of Nanoelectrodes with Low zM Limits of Detection

Gabriel Maroli, Vernalyn Abarintos, Andrew Piper, Arben Merkoçi. Small
Nanoscale electrodes have been a topic of intense research for many decades. Their enhanced sensitivities, born out of an improved signal-to-noise ratio as electrode dimensions decrease, make them ideal for the development of low-concentration analyte sensors. However, to date, nanoelectrode fabrication has typically required expensive...

An Artificial Miniaturized Peroxidase for Signal Amplification in Lateral Flow Immunoassays

Emilia Renzi, Andrew Piper, Flavia Nastri, Arben Merkoçi, Angela Lombardi. Small
Signal amplification strategies are widely used for improving the sensitivity of lateral flow immunoassays (LFiAs). Herein, the artificial miniaturized peroxidase Fe(III)-MimochromeVI*a (FeMC6*a), immobilized on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), is used as a strategy to obtain catalytic signal amplification in sandwich immunoassays on...

Rational Approach to Tailor Au–IrO2 Nanoflowers as Colorimetric Labels for Lateral Flow Assays

Lourdes Rivas*, Liming Hu, Claudio Parolo, Andrea Idili, and Arben Merkoçi*. ACS Appl. Nano Mater.
As the current pandemic has shown, lateral flow assays (LFAs) are a prime example of point-of-care devices enabling quick testing at an affordable price. However, their ease of use undeniably affects their sensitivity, making them less sensitive than other multi-step and time-consuming diagnostic assays, such as polymerase chain...

Laser Reduced Graphene Oxide Electrode for Pathogenic Escherichia coli Detection

Lei Zhao, Giulio Rosati*, Andrew Piper*, Cecilia de Carvalho Castro e Silva, Liming Hu, Qiuyue Yang, Flavio Della Pelle, Ruslán Alvarez-Diduk and Arben Merkoçi*. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces
Graphene-based materials are of interest in electrochemical biosensing due to their unique properties, such as high surface areas, unique electrochemical properties, and biocompatibility. However, the scalable production of graphene electrodes remains a challenge; it is typically slow, expensive, and inefficient. Herein, we reported...