Themed collection Emerging Investigators

Guest Editors W. Andy Tao, Jill Venton and Chaoyong James Yang provide an overview of this Emerging Investigators themed issue.

Analyst profiles the emerging investigators featuring work in this themed issue.

This review summarizes recent research on the influence of phosphine ligands on the size, stability, and reactivity of gold clusters synthesized in solution.

Janus particles with anisotropic surface makeup or compartments enable novel imaging and sensing in biological systems.

Multidimensional imaging of surface plasmons via hyperspectral dark field optical microscopy, tip-enhanced Raman scattering, nonlinear photoemission electron microscopy, and electron energy loss spectroscopy.

Rapid prototyping is a critical step in the product development cycle of miniaturized chemical and bioanalytical devices, often categorized as lab-on-a-chip devices, biosensors, and micro-total analysis systems.

Advancements in ion concentration polarization made over the past three years are highlighted.

Vertically-aligned mesoporous silica films were used for electrochemical sensing and molecular separation in terms of molecular size, charge and lipophilicity.

This Minireview highlights the recent advances in developing novel techniques for ultrasensitive protein analysis.

Molecularly imprinted technology (MIT) has been widely employed to produce stable, robust and cheap molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) materials that possess selective binding sites for recognition of target analytes in food, such as pesticides, veterinary drugs, mycotoxins, illegal drugs and so on.

High-vacuum ion collision cross section (CCS) measurements in Fourier transform mass analyzers.

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), which can emit ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) light under near-infrared (NIR) excitation, are regarded as a new generation of nanoprobes because of their unique optical properties, including a virtually zero auto-fluorescence background for the improved signal-to-noise ratio, narrow emission bandwidths and high resistance to photo-bleaching.

This review highlights some of the most recent advances in the development of Raman spectroscopy for live cell studies.

Sheath-flow surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used for online detection and quantification of small molecules separated by liquid chromatography.

Isothermal amplification of Zn²⁺ detection is achieved by using a DNA supersandwich structure and Zn²⁺-requiring DNAzymes in nanopores.

This paper reports a method to preserve the high viability of CTCs and enrich isolated CTCs in a small volume of culture medium for successful ex vivo expansion.

FSCV can be utilized to predict solution formation constants.

Fast, portable and sensitive analysis of E. coli is becoming an important challenge in many critical fields (e.g., food safety, environmental monitoring and clinical diagnosis).

Combined precursor isotopic labeling and isobaric tagging (cPILOT) technique enables enhanced multiplexing quantification of S-nitrosylation in biological tissues from animal models of disease.

Colloidal polydispersity has a significant impact on the high Raman enhancement factors (EFs) for nanoparticle-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates.

Low oxygen tension, or hypoxia, is a common occurrence in poorly vascularized solid tumors. We demonstrate our paper-based models contain regions of decreased oxygen tension, suggesting their usefulness as a model system for studying tumor biology.

A colorimetric acid–base titration sensor allowing one-step quantitative detection of acid content by naked eyes.

The microfluidic device for integrated cell culture and sample preparation reported here resulted in a ∼10-fold improvement over conventional lysis methods and enabled the detection of energy metabolites.

A low-cost ttery-powered pectrophotometric ystem (BASS) was developed for high-sensitivity point-of-care analysis in low-resource settings on a microfluidic chip without relying on external power supplies.

The ability to evaluate antibody immobilization onto gold nanoparticles is critical for assessing coupling chemistry and optimizing the sensitivity of nanoparticle-enabled biosensors.

A novel iron oxide-to-Prussian blue nanoparticle conversion strategy has been developed and applied to a sensitive, cost-effective and user-friendly colorimetric immunoassay without the aid of any complex signal amplification processes.

Paper-based microfluidic channels were created from solid wax printing, and the resultant 2D wax-printed paper substrates were used for paper spray (PS) mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of small organic compounds.

This non-invasive LC-MS-based metabolite footprinting revealed significant metabolic changes during mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation.

A continuous perfluoroalkyl acid gas phase source was constructed to improve current atmospheric sampling techniques.

Quantum dot-based concentric Förster resonance energy transfer (cFRET) is a promising modality for the development of multifunctional fluorescent probes for bioanalysis and bioimaging. A new long-wavelength configuration and multiplexed hybridization assay format expands the scope of cFRET.

Dopamine regulation in the rat brain olfactory tubercle was characterized by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry coupled with carbon–fiber microelectrodes and optogenetics.

Elucidating optimal ionic interactions for improving the reactivity of redox polymers.

Here, we reveal the increased biochemical and spatial information acquired using high-speed MALDI-MSI and sequential acquisitions of positive and negative lipid-MSI data from single tissue sections.

Raman spectroscopy can be used to discriminate between morphologically similar lymphocyte cell classes and cell lines.

Single-cell metabolic mass spectrometry enables the discovery (untargeted) analysis of small molecules in individual cells.

Protein expression and glycosylation changes as a result of tunicamycin treatment were systematically and quantitatively investigated.

This manuscript presents the first comprehensive non-destructive micro elemental characterisation of mineral pigments used on Aboriginal Australian objects.

A low-cost micropatterned superabsorbent array chip enables spontaneous fluid partitioning for digital PCR and sequencing without sophisticated microfluidic equipment.

Sensitive, rapid, and direct detection of chemical-warfare agent simulants in urine by solid-phase microextraction low temperature plasma ionisation mass spectrometry.

In situ EC-SHINERS is used to investigate the adsorption behaviour of DNA bases on atomically flat Au(111) electrode surfaces.

A microwave plasma was used for direct ambient ionization mass spectrometry of solid substrates, rapidly yielding atomic spectra without sample digestion or pre-treatment.

Trapped ion mobility spectra recorded for ubiquitin are consistent with structures reported for the native state by NMR.

The use of a platinum microarray thin-film electrode together with a gellified ionic-liquid has shown to be highly favourable for long-term oxygen gas sensing.

Conducting the Paternò–Büchi reaction in a microflow photo-reactor enables its coupling with ESI-MS/MS and CC location determination for shotgun lipid analysis.

Plasmonic nanohole arrays are widely used for optical label-free molecular detection.

Nano-DESI mass spectrometry imaging enables quantitative imaging of small-molecule neurotransmitters which are essential to the function of the nervous system.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has long been established as an analytical technique for the measurement of vibrational modes of molecular systems.

We present target-controlled permeability change in polyelectrolyte-aptamer multilayered film as a universal basis for sensing. The enhanced diffusion of ions across the film upon target binding was employed to derive colorimetric or electrochemical response.

Using phosphorothioate modified RNA probes adsorbed by graphene oxide, Hg²⁺ is detected sensitively with less interference.

Dark for light: A fluorescence quencher was turned into a near-infrared probe for mitochondrial membrane potential in living cells and mice.