A state of the art review on microbial fuel cells: A promising technology for wastewater treatment and bioenergy

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bioreactor that converts chemical energy in the chemical bonds in organic compounds to electrical energy through catalytic reactions of microorganisms under anaerobic conditions. It has been known for many years that it is possible to generate electricity directly by using bacteria to break down organic substrates. The recent energy crisis has reinvigorated interests in MFCs among academic researchers as a way to generate electric power or hydrogen from biomass without a net carbon emission into the ecosystem. MFCs can also be used in wastewater treatment facilities to break down organic matters. They have also been studied for applications as biosensors such as sensors for biological oxygen demand monitoring. Power output and Coulombic efficiency are significantly affected by the types of microbe in the anodic chamber of an MFC, configuration of the MFC and operating conditions. Currently, real-world applications of MFCs are limited because of their low power density level of several thousand mW/m2. Efforts are being made to improve the performance and reduce the construction and operating costs of MFCs. This article presents a critical review on the recent advances in MFC research with emphases on MFC configurations and performances.     

Nanomaterials‐based biosensors for detection of microorganisms and microbial toxins

Detection of microorganisms and microbial toxins is important for health and safety. Due to their unique physical and chemical properties, nanomaterials have been extensively used to develop biosensors for rapid detection of microorganisms with microbial cells and toxins as target analytes. In this paper, the design principles of nanomaterials‐based biosensors for four selected analyte categories (bacteria cells, toxins, mycotoxins, and protozoa cells), closely associated with the target analytes' properties is reviewed. Five signal transducing methods that are less equipment intensive (colorimetric, fluorimetric, surface enhanced Raman scattering, electrochemical, and magnetic relaxometry methods) is described and compared for their sensory performance (in term oflimit of detection, dynamic range, and response time) for all analyte categories. In the end, the suitability of these five sensing principles for on‐site or field applications is discussed. With a comprehensive coverage of nanomaterials, design principles, sensing principles, and assessment on the sensory performance and suitability for on‐site application, this review offers valuable insight and perspective for designing suitable nanomaterials‐based microorganism biosensors for a given application.     

Recent advances in the development and applications of luminescent bacteria–based biosensors

Luminescent bacteria–based biosensors are widely used for fast and sensitive monitoring of food safety, water quality, and other environmental pollutions. Recent advancements in biomedical engineering technology have led to improved portability, integration, and intelligence of these biotoxicity assays. Moreover, genetic engineering has played a significant role in the development of recombinant luminescent bacterial biosensors, enhancing both detection accuracy and sensitivity. This review provides an overview of recent advances in the development and applications of novel luminescent bacteria–based biosensors, and future perspectives and challenges in the cutting-edge research, market translation, and practical applications of luminescent bacterial biosensing are discussed.     

Advances in Cell‐Free Biosensors: Principle,Mechanism, and Applications

Synthetic biology has promoted the development of biosensors as tools for detecting trace substances. In the past, biosensors based on synthetic biology have been designed on living cells, but the development of cell biosensors has been greatly limited by defects such as genetically modified organism problem and the obstruction of cell membrane. However, the advent of cell‐free synthetic biology addresses these limitations. Biosensors based on the cell‐free protein synthesis system have the advantages of higher safety, higher sensitivity, and faster response time over cell biosensors, which make cell‐free biosensors have a broader application prospect. This review summarizes the workflow of various cell‐free biosensors, including the identification of analytes and signal output. The detection range of cell‐free biosensors is greatly enlarged by different recognition mechanisms and output methods. In addition, the review also discusses the applications of cell‐free biosensors in environmental monitoring and health diagnosis, as well as existing deficiencies and aspects that should be improved. In the future, through continuous improvement and optimization, the potential of cell‐free biosensors will be stimulated, and their application fields will be expanded.     

Twenty years research in cholinesterase biosensors: from basic research to practical applications

Over the last decades, cholinesterase (ChE) biosensors have emerged as an ultra sensitive and rapid technique for toxicity analysis in environmental monitoring, food and quality control. These systems have the potential to complement or replace the classical analytical methods by simplifying or eliminating sample preparation protocols and making field testing easier and faster with significant decrease in costs per analysis. Over the years, engineering of more sensitive ChE enzymes, development of more reliable immobilization protocols and progress in the area of microelectronics could allow ChE biosensors to be competitive for field analysis and extend their applications to multianalyte screening, development of small, portable instrumentations for rapid toxicity testing, and detectors in chromatographic systems. In this paper, we will review the research efforts over the last 20 years in fabricating AChE biosensors and the recent trends and challenges encounter once the sensor is used outside research laboratory for in situ real sample applications. The review will discuss the generations of cholinesterase sensors with their advantages and limitations, the existing electrode configurations and fabrication techniques and their applications for toxicity monitoring. We will focus on low-cost electrochemical sensors and the approaches used for enzyme immobilization. Recent works for achieving high sensitivity and selectivity are also discussed.     

SPR生物传感器及其应用进展

基于表面等离子体共振 (SPR)技术的光学生物传感器是进行生物分子相互作用分析的一种先进手段。与传统的超速离心、荧光法等相比 ,它具有实时检测、无需标记、耗样最少等特点 ,在药物筛选、临床诊断、食物及环境监控和膜生物学等领域中的新兴应用日益扩大 ,并且已成为生命科学和制药研究的一种标准的生物物理学工具。综述了近几年国际上生物传感器的应用进展情况 ,并简要展望了该技术的发展和应用前景     

Silicon-based microfabricated microbial fuel cell toxicity sensor

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been used for several years as biosensors for measuring environmental parameters such as biochemical oxygen demand and water toxicity. The present study is focused on the detection of toxic matter using a novel silicon-based MFC. Like other existing toxicity sensors based on MFCs, this device is capable of detecting the variation on the current produced by the cell when toxic compounds are present in the medium. The MFC approach presented in this work aims to obtain a simple, compact and planar device for its further application as a biosensor in the design and fabrication of equipment for toxicity monitoring. It consists on a proton exchange membrane placed between two microfabricated silicon plates that act as current collectors. An array of square 80 μm × 80 μm vertical channels, 300 μm deep, have been defined trough the plates over an area of 6 mm × 6 mm. The final testing assembly incorporates two perspex pieces positioned onto the plates as reservoirs with a working volume of 144 μL per compartment. The operation of the microdevice as a direct electron transfer MFC has been validated by comparing its performance against a larger scale MFC, run under the same conditions. The device has been tested as a toxicity sensor by setting it at a fixed current while monitoring changes in the output power. A drop in the power production is observed when a toxic compound is added to the anode compartment. The compact design of the device makes it suitable for its incorporation into measurement equipment either as an individual device or as an array of sensors for high throughput processing.     

Acoustic wave based MEMS devices for biosensing applications

This paper presents a review of acoustic-wave based MEMS devices that offer a promising technology platform for the development of sensitive, portable, real-time biosensors. MEMS fabrication of acoustic wave based biosensors enables device miniaturization, power consumption reduction and integration with electronic circuits. For biological applications, the biosensors are integrated in a microfluidic system and the sensing area is coated with a biospecific layer. When a bioanalyte interacts with the sensing layer, mass and viscosity variations of the biospecific layer can be detected by monitoring changes in the acoustic wave properties such as velocity, attenuation, resonant frequency and delay time. Few types of acoustic wave devices could be integrated in microfluidic systems without significant degradation of the quality factor. The acoustic wave based MEMS devices reported in the literature as biosensors and presented in this review are film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBAR), surface acoustic waves (SAW) resonators and SAW delay lines. Different approaches to the realization of FBARs, SAW resonators and SAW delay lines for various biochemical applications are presented. Methods of integration of the acoustic wave MEMS devices in the microfluidic systems and functionalization strategies will be also discussed.     

Conducting polymer nanowires-based label-free biosensors

Label-free sensing technologies have recently attracted a great deal of interest for sensitive, rapid and facile analysis for applications in health care, environmental monitoring, food safety and homeland security. One-dimensional (1-D) nanostructures such as nanowires, configured as field-effect transistors (FETs)/chemiresistors that change conductance upon binding of charged macromolecules to receptors linked to the device surfaces are extremely attractive for label-free biosensors. Herein, we review recent advances in label-free biosensors based on conducting polymer nanowires based FET/chemiresistor. Specifically, we address the fabrication, functionalization, assembly/alignment and sensing applications of FET/chemiresistor based on these nanomaterials. The advantages and disadvantages of various fabrication, functionalization, and assembling procedures of these nanosensors are reviewed and discussed.     

Microfluidic-integrated biosensors: Prospects for point-of-care diagnostics

There is a growing demand to integrate biosensors with microfluidics to provide miniaturized platforms with many favorable properties, such as reduced sample volume, decreased processing time, low cost analysis and low reagent consumption. These microfluidics-integrated biosensors would also have numerous advantages such as laminar flow, minimal handling of hazardous materials, multiple sample detection in parallel, portability and versatility in design. Microfluidics involves the science and technology of manipulation of fluids at the micro- to nano-liter level. It is predicted that combining biosensors with microfluidic chips will yield enhanced analytical capability, and widen the possibilities for applications in clinical diagnostics. The recent developments in microfluidics have helped researchers working in industries and educational institutes to adopt some of these platforms for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. This review focuses on the latest advancements in the fields of microfluidic biosensing technologies, and on the challenges and possible solutions for translation of this technology for POC diagnostic applications. We also discuss the fabrication techniques required for developing microfluidic-integrated biosensors, recently reported biomarkers, and the prospects of POC diagnostics in the medical industry.     

The Biological Applications of Two Aggregation‐Induced Emission Luminogens

Fluorescence imaging, as a commonly used scientific tool, is widely applied in various biomedical and material structures through visualization technology. Highly selective and sensitive luminescent biological probes, as well as those with good water solubility, are urgently needed for biomedical research. In contrast to the traditional aggregation‐caused quenching of fluorescence, in the unique phenomenon of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE), the individual luminogens have extremely weak or no emissivity because they each have free intramolecular motion; however, when they form aggregates, these components immediately “light up”. Since the discovery of “turn‐on” mechanism, researchers have been studying and applying AIE in a variety of fields to develop more sensitive, selective, and efficient strategies for the AIE dyes. There are numerous advantages to the use of AIE‐based methods, including low background interference, strong contrast, high performance in intracellular imaging, and the ability for long‐term monitoring in vivo. In this review, two typical examples of AIEgens, TPE‐Cy and TPE‐Ph‐In, are described, including their structure properties and applications. Recent progress in the biological applications is mainly focused on. Undoubtedly, in the near future, an increasing number of encouraging and practical ideas will promote the development of more AIEgens for broad use in biomedical applications.     

Enzyme inhibition-based biosensors for food safety and environmental monitoring

Analytical technology based on sensors is an extremely broad field which impacts on many major industrial sectors such as the pharmaceutical, healthcare, food, and agriculture industries as well as environmental monitoring. This review will highlight the research carried out during the last 5 years on biosensors that are based on enzyme inhibition for determination of pollutants and toxic compounds in a wide range of samples. Here the different enzymes implicated in the inhibition, different transducers forming the sensing devices, and the different contaminants analyzed are considered. The general application of the various biosensors developed, with emphasis on food and environmental applications, is reviewed as well as the general approaches that have been used for enzyme immobilization, the enzyme catalysis, and the inhibition mechanism.     

Biosensor technology: technology push versus market pull

Biosensor technology is based on a specific biological recognition element in combination with a transducer for signal processing. Since its inception, biosensors have been expected to play a significant analytical role in medicine, agriculture, food safety, homeland security, environmental and industrial monitoring. However, the commercialization of biosensor technology has significantly lagged behind the research output as reflected by a plethora of publications and patenting activities. The rationale behind the slow and limited technology transfer could be attributed to cost considerations and some key technical barriers. Analytical chemistry has changed considerably, driven by automation, miniaturization, and system integration with high throughput for multiple tasks. Such requirements pose a great challenge in biosensor technology which is often designed to detect one single or a few target analytes. Successful biosensors must be versatile to support interchangeable biorecognition elements, and in addition miniaturization must be feasible to allow automation for parallel sensing with ease of operation at a competitive cost. A significant upfront investment in research and development is a prerequisite in the commercialization of biosensors. The progress in such endeavors is incremental with limited success, thus, the market entry for a new venture is very difficult unless a niche product can be developed with a considerable market volume.     

Progress of new label-free techniques for biosensors: a review

The detection techniques used in biosensors can be broadly classified into label-based and label-free. Label-based detection relies on the specific properties of labels for detecting a particular target. In contrast, label-free detection is suitable for the target molecules that are not labeled or the screening of analytes which are not easy to tag. Also, more types of label-free biosensors have emerged with developments in biotechnology. The latest developed techniques in label-free biosensors, such as field-effect transistors-based biosensors including carbon nanotube field-effect transistor biosensors, graphene field-effect transistor biosensors and silicon nanowire field-effect transistor biosensors, magnetoelastic biosensors, optical-based biosensors, surface stress-based biosensors and other type of biosensors based on the nanotechnology are discussed. The sensing principles, configurations, sensing performance, applications, advantages and restriction of different label-free based biosensors are considered and discussed in this review. Most concepts included in this survey could certainly be applied to the development of this kind of biosensor in the future.     

Self‐Powered Gyroscope Ball Using a Triboelectric Mechanism

Healthcare monitoring systems can provide important health state information by monitoring the biomechanical parameter or motion of body segments. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) as self‐powered motion sensors have been developed rapidly to convert external mechanical change into electrical signal. However, research effort on using TENGs for multiaxis acceleration sensing is very limited. Moreover, TENG has not been demonstrated for rotation sensing to date. Herein, for the first time, a 3D symmetric triboelectric nanogenerator‐based gyroscope ball (T‐ball) with dual capability of energy harvesting and self‐powered sensing is proposed for motion monitoring including multiaxis acceleration and rotation. The T‐ball can harvest energy under versatile scenarios and function as self‐powered 3D accelerometer with sensitivity of 6.08, 5.87, and 3.62 V g ^?1 . Furthermore, the T‐ball can serve as a self‐powered gyroscope for rotation sensing with sensitivity of 3.5 mV s^o?1. It shows good performance in hand motion recognition and human activity state monitoring applications. The proposed T‐ball as a self‐powered gyroscope for advanced motion sensing can pave the way to a self‐powered, more accurate, and more complete motion monitoring system.     

Surface plasmon resonance based biosensor technique: A review

Optical Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors represent the most advanced and developed optical label‐free biosensor technology. Optical SPR biosensors are a powerful detection and analysis tool that has vast applications in environmental protection, biotechnology, medical diagnostics, drug screening, food safety and security. This article reviews the recent development of SPR biosensor techniques, including bulk SPR and localized SPR (LSPR) biosensors, for detecting interactions between an analyte of interest in solution and a biomolecular recognition. The concepts of bulk and localized SPs and the working principles of both sensing techniques are introduced. Major sensing advances on biorecognition elements, measurement formats, and sensing platforms are presented. Finally, the discussions on both biosensor techniques as well as comparison of both SPR sensing techniques are made. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

场效应晶体管生物传感器在生物医学检测中的应用研究进展*

场效应晶体管生物传感器因其灵敏度高、分析速度快、无标记、体积小、操作简单等特点而受到了很多关注,广泛应用于DNA、蛋白质、细胞、离子等生物识别物的检测。近年来,更有纳米材料和微电子技术在传感器设计中提高传感器的传感性能,场效应晶体管生物传感器朝着高灵敏、微型化、快速化以及多功能化的方向以令人惊叹的速度发展。研究场效应晶体管生物传感器工作原理,阐述近年来场效应晶体管生物传感器在生物医学检测领域中最新的研究进展与应用,探讨场效应晶体管生物传感器克服各种缺陷的应对策略,为该传感器在未来生物医学检测中的开发提供参考。     

Miniaturizing microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represent an emerging technology for electricity generation from renewable biomass. Given the demand for a better understanding of the bio/inorganic interface that plays a key role in MFC energy production, small-scale MFCs are receiving considerable attention owing to their intrinsic advantages in both fundamental studies and applications as high-throughput platforms. Here, we present a brief review centered on the development of miniature MFCs at the milliliter to microliter scale. The principles, design motifs and experimental demonstrations of representative miniature MFC devices and systems are introduced, followed by a discussion of the key challenges and opportunities for realizing the exciting potentials of miniaturized MFCs.     

Process control in cell culture technology using dielectric spectroscopy

In the biopharmaceutical industry, mammalian and insect cells as well as plant cell cultures are gaining worldwide importance to produce biopharmaceuticals and as products themselves, for example in stem cell therapy. These highly sophisticated cell-based production processes need to be monitored and controlled to guarantee product quality and to satisfy GMP requirements. With the process analytical technology (PAT) initiative, requirements regarding process monitoring and control have changed and real-time in-line monitoring tools are now recommended. Dielectric spectroscopy (DS) can serve as a tool to satisfy some PAT requirements. DS has been used in the medical field for quite some time and it may allow real-time process monitoring of biological cell culture parameters. DS has the potential to enable process optimization, automation, cost reduction, and a more consistent product quality. Dielectric spectroscopy is reviewed here as a tool to monitor biochemical processes. Commercially available dielectric sensing systems are discussed. The potential of this technology is demonstrated through examples of current and potential future applications in research and industry for mammalian and insect cell culture.     

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering‐active photonic crystal fiber probe: Towards next generation liquid biopsy sensor with ultra high sensitivity

The tremendous enhancement factors that surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) possesses coupled with the flexibility of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) pave the way to a new generation of ultrasensitive biosensors. Thanks to the unique structure of PCFs, which allows direct incorporation of an analyte into the axially aligned air channels, interaction between the analyte and excitation light could be increased many folds leading to flexible, reliable and sensitive probes that can be used in preclinical or clinical biosensing. SERS‐active PCF probes provide unique opportunity to develop an opto‐fluidic liquid biopsy needle sensor that enables one‐step integrated sample collection and testing for disease diagnosis. Specificity being a key parameter to biosensors, the PCF inside the biopsy needle could be functionalized with targeting moieties to detect specific biomarkers. In this review article, we present some of the most promising recent biosensors based on PCFs including hollow‐core PCFs, suspended‐core PCFs and side‐channel PCFs. We provide a wide range of applications of such platform using Raman spectroscopy, label free SERS or labeled SERS detection and analyze some of the main challenges to be addressed for translating it to a clinically viable next generation sensitive biopsy needle sensing probe.