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Biosensors and Biosensing for Water, Air and Soil Monitoring

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A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Biosensors and Biosensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 December 2023) | Viewed by 9200

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Meng Liu

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Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Interests: functional nucleic acid; biosensors; paper-based microfluidic devices

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental monitoring is always a priority in global research due to the close relationship between environmental pollution and human health, with biosensors having been widely employed as cost-effective, fast and real-time analytical techniques in this field. One issue requiring monitoring is water pollution, which has been a significant threat to humans and animals. This issue is getting serious due to higher water consumption, intensified human activity, climate change and so on. Monitoring water quality is critical to understand water pollution and ensure the safety of water. Soils are the fundament of terrestrial ecosystems, providing essential ecosystem services. Soil damage has been increasing and worsening due to anthropogenic activities and increased soil use. The loss of soil carbon, soil pollution, and erosion are global problems. Air quality also affects humans. To ensure good air quality, it is necessary to obtain the relevant information and make it available. The main topic of this Special Issue is to provide an updated overview of the recent developments in and applications of biosensors for the monitoring of air, water and soil pollutants in real conditions.

This Special Issue will combine a set of novel and high-quality publications (original research articles, short communications, and review articles) on biosensors for water, air and soil monitoring.

Prof. Dr. Meng Liu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biosensors is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

biosensors
environmental monitoring
nanomaterials
fluorescent
colorimetric
electrochemical
water quality monitoring
soil monitoring
air pollution monitoring

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 4669 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Sensitivity of Binary/Ternary Locally Resonant Porous Phononic Crystal Sensors for Sulfuric Acid Detection: A New Class of Fluidic-Based Biosensors

by Khaled Aliqab, Hussein A. Elsayed, Meshari Alsharari, Ammar Armghan, Ashour M. Ahmed and Ahmed Mehaney

Biosensors 2023, 13(7), 683; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13070683 - 27 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1279

Abstract

This research presented a comprehensive study of a one-dimensional (1D) porous silicon phononic crystal design as a novel fluidic sensor. The proposed sensor is designed to detect sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) within a narrow concentration range of 0–15%. Sulfuric acid is a mineral acid extensively utilized in various physical, chemical, and industrial applications. Undoubtedly, its concentration, particularly at lower levels, plays a pivotal role in these applications. Hence, there is an urgent demand for a highly accurate and sensitive tool to monitor even the slightest changes in its concentration, which is crucial for researchers. Herein, we presented a novel study on the optimization of the phononic crystal (PnC) sensor. The optimization process involves a comparative strategy between binary and ternary PnCs, utilizing a multilayer stack comprising 1D porous silicon (PSi) layers. Additionally, a second comparison is conducted between conventional Bragg and local resonant PnCs to demonstrate the design with the highest sensitivity. Moreover, we determine the optimum values for the materials’ thickness and number of periods. The results revealed that the ternary local resonant PnC design with the configuration of {silicone rubber/[PSi1/PSi2/PSi3]^N/silicone rubber} is the optimal sensor design. The sensor provided a super sensitivity of 2.30 × 10⁷ Hz for a concentration change of just 2%. This exceptional sensitivity is attributed to the presence of local resonant modes within the band gap of PnCs. The temperature effects on the local resonant modes and sensor performance have also been considered. Furthermore, additional sensor performance parameters such as quality factor, figure of merit, detection limit, and damping rate have been calculated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed liquid sensor. The transfer matrix method was utilized to compute the transmission spectra of the PnC, and Hashin’s expression was employed to manipulate the porous silicon media filled with sulfuric acid at various concentrations. Lastly, the proposed sensor can serve as an efficient tool for detecting acidic rain, contaminating freshwater, and assessing food and liquid quality, as well as monitoring other pharmaceutical products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors and Biosensing for Water, Air and Soil Monitoring)

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15 pages, 5061 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Odorant Binding Causes Cytoskeletal Rearrangement, Leading to Detectable Changes in Endothelial and Epithelial Barrier Function and Micromotion

by Theresa M. Curtis, Annabella M. Nilon, Anthony J. Greenberg, Matthew Besner, Jacob J. Scibek, Jennifer A. Nichols and Janet L. Huie

Biosensors 2023, 13(3), 329; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13030329 - 28 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1841

Abstract

Non-olfactory cells have excellent biosensor potential because they express functional olfactory receptors (ORs) and are non-neuronal cells that are easy to culture. ORs are G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), and there is a well-established link between different classes of G-proteins and cytoskeletal structure changes affecting cellular morphology that has been unexplored for odorant sensing. Thus, the present study was conducted to determine if odorant binding in non-olfactory cells causes cytoskeletal changes that will lead to cell changes detectable by electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS). To this end, we used the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), which express OR10J5, and the human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells, which express OR2AT4. Using these two different cell barriers, we showed that odorant addition, lyral and Sandalore, respectively, caused an increase in cAMP, changes in the organization of the cytoskeleton, and a decrease in the integrity of the junctions between the cells, causing a decrease in cellular electrical resistance. In addition, the random cellular movement of the monolayers (micromotion) was significantly decreased after odorant exposure. Collectively, these data demonstrate a new physiological role of olfactory receptor signaling in endothelial and epithelial cell barriers and represent a new label-free method to detect odorant binding. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors and Biosensing for Water, Air and Soil Monitoring)

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9 pages, 3286 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Colorimetric Detection of DNase Type I 3′OH DNA Ends Using an Isothermal Amplification-Assisted Paper-Based Analytical Device

by Wei Xue, Kaiyun Song, Yangyang Chang and Meng Liu

Biosensors 2022, 12(11), 1012; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12111012 - 13 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1314

Abstract

The generation of DNase type I 3′OH DNA ends is closely related to the harm of endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) and environmental genotoxic agents. The evaluation of this type of DNA damage plays an important role in clinical intervention and environmental toxicity assessment. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-assisted isothermal amplification (TAIA) offers a facile and versatile way to detect DNase type I 3′OH DNA ends. Its ability of templated-independent isothermal amplification is one unique feature. Here, we reported a paper-based analytical device (PAD) coupled with a smartphone for the detection of DNase type I 3′OH DNA ends using TAIA and colorimetric signal readout. We achieved the integration of cell lysis, DNA extraction, TAIA, horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-enabled colorimetric reaction, and signal readout. This device could achieve a limit of detection of 264 cells with a total assay time of less than 45 min. By combining PAD with a smartphone, the integrated platform could be used for the visual and quantitative analysis of DNA damages with the advantages of ease-to-use, fast response, inexpensive, and instrument free. Furthermore, successful assessment of the genotoxicity in wastewater effluents suggested the great promise of the integrated platform for on-site testing in practical applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors and Biosensing for Water, Air and Soil Monitoring)

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10 pages, 2008 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Electrochemical Aptasensor Integrating Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework for Highly Selective Detection of Bioaerosols

by Pu Wang, Rui Zhang, Yunping Wu, Yangyang Chang and Meng Liu

Biosensors 2022, 12(9), 725; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12090725 - 4 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1750

Abstract

Bioaerosols are the biological materials in the air, which may cause a continuous threat to human health. However, there are many challenges in monitoring bioaerosols such as lack of sensitivity and selectivity. Herein, we synthesized a series of nanohybrids containing zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) to construct an electrochemical aptasensor for detecting adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a biomarker for bioaerosols. The synthesized nanohybrids can not only improve the selectivity of aptasensor because of the original crystal and chemical features of ZIF-67, but also boost its sensitivity due to the excellent conductivity of COFs. After optimizing the nanohybrids, the novel developed sensing platform achieved highly selective detection of ATP with an excellent detection limit of 0.11 nM in a wide linear range from 0.1 nM to 100 nM. Furthermore, this assay was applied to detect bioaerosols in real air samples, and the result showed a positive correlation with that of the culturing-based method, suggesting its potential applicability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors and Biosensing for Water, Air and Soil Monitoring)

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Review

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15 pages, 1000 KiB

Open AccessReview

Macro-Morphological Traits of Leaves for Urban Tree Selection for Air Pollution Biomonitoring: A Review

by Karen Rodríguez-Santamaría, Carlos Alfonso Zafra-Mejía and Hugo Alexander Rondón-Quintana

Biosensors 2022, 12(10), 812; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12100812 - 30 Sep 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1913

Abstract

Urban trees provide different ecosystem benefits, such as improving air quality due to the retention of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) on their leaves. The main objective of this paper was to study, through a systematic literature review, the leaf macro-morphological traits (LMTs) most used for the selection of urban trees as air pollution biomonitors. A citation frequency index was used in scientific databases, where the importance associated with each variable was organized by quartiles (Q). The results suggest that the most biomonitored air pollutants by the LMTs of urban trees were PM between 1–100 µm (Q1 = 0.760), followed by O₃ (Q2 = 0.586), PM_2.5 (Q2 = 0.504), and PM₁₀ (Q3 = 0.423). PM was probably the most effective air pollutant for studying and evaluating urban air quality in the context of tree LMTs. PM_2.5 was the fraction most used in these studies. The LMTs most used for PM monitoring were leaf area (Q1) and specific leaf area (Q4). These LMTs were frequently used for their easy measurement and quantification. In urban areas, it was suggested that leaf area was directly related to the amount of PM retained on tree leaves. The PM retained on tree leaves was also used to study other f associated urban air pollutants associated (e.g., heavy metals and hydrocarbons). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors and Biosensing for Water, Air and Soil Monitoring)

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