Research in our group focuses on the microscopic and spectroscopic analysis of luminescent and plasmonic nanoparticles and their integration with microfluidic devices with potential applications for the development of novel biological, chemical, and environmental sensors. This work is inherently multidisciplinary and draws on skills from analytical, materials, physical and surface chemistries as well as biology and engineering.

 

Developing Caged Nanostructures for Explosives Detection

This project aims to optimize the geometries of, interactions between, and local dielectric environment surrounding nanoparticles (diameter ~10 - 100 nm) for improved detection of explosives. This project focuses on synthesizing solution-phase caged nanoparticles for fingerprint identification of explosives using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

 

This project is funded by the Office of Naval Research.

 

Anti-Cancer Drug and Drug Metabolite Detection using Caged Nanoparticles

One area of active research in cancer therapy is the development of new anti-cancer drugs that that exhibit minimal side effects. Prior to human studies, the metabolism, safety, stability, and toxicity of the molecules must be assessed. The objective of this project is to develop a novel diagnostic tool for anti-cancer drug screening and metabolic product detection using novel nanomaterials.

Recently, we have developed a novel method that produces optically stable nanoparticles that are trapped inside silica cages. These cages result in selective transport of molecules through the silica shells based on the size and chemical functionality of the molecule. These studies aim to optimize the chemistry of these nanostructures for selective detection of anti-cancer drugs in buffer as well as in blood and urine stimulants.

 

This project is funded by the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust.

 

Novel Diagnostic Tools for Understanding Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder that afflicts ~1 million people in the United States. PD is hypothesized to have both environmental and genetic causes; however, no diagnostic biomarkers have been positively identified. The objective of this project is to develop a new generation of medical diagnostic technology that integrates capillary/microchip electrophoresis with nanoparticles for enhanced bioanalysis and separation of biologically-relevant samples for PD diagnosis, management, and treatment.

 

This work is partially funded by the University of Iowa's Institute for Clinical & Translational Science (NIH).

 

Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy

The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is a collective oscillation of the conduction band electrons at the surface of noble metal nanoparticles that develops when incident electromagnetic radiation is of an appropriate frequency. In this project, the LSPR of noble metal nanoparticles is used to detect biological and chemical species because of its sensitivity to refractive index changes near the metal surface. This work aims at capitalizing on the sensitivity of the LSPR of nanoparticles with optically active DNA surface chemistries. Microfluidic devices, fluorescence imaging, and atomic force microscopy facilitate these investigations.

 

This work is partially funded by the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation.

 

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