• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.408-408
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• 2014

Graphene has received attention with its high electron mobility and visual transparency as a promising material for optoelectronic and photonic applications. Combination of graphene and conducting nanostructures i.e. plasmonic structures has recently been researched for enhancing light-matter interaction and overcoming diffraction limit of light. Here we show enhanced photodetection of incoherent visible light with graphene-mediated plasmonics. Gold nanoparticles fabricated by focused ion beam was used as an active element of photodetection and graphene was utilized as an interfacing material between nanostructures and electrodes. Hot electrons generated upon plasmon decay within nanoparticles pass over the potential barrier between nanostructure and graphene and give rise to a photocurrent with built-in electric field. We report 76.7% enhancement of photocurrent under resonant irradiation of fiber-coupled halogen lamp compared to the case without light illumination. We showed wavelength-dependent current response arisen from plasmonic nanostructure, providing a good agreement with theoretical calculation.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.57-61
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• 2011

This paper describes an electrochemical immunoassay for simple, fast and quantitative detection of a urinary hippuric acid which is one of major biological indicator in toluene-exposed humans. The electrochemical system of immunoassay was based on the directly osmium complex conjugated with hippuric acid. With the competition between free hippuric acid (HA) and the osmium-hippuric acid conjugate (Os-HA) to bind with antibody hippuric acid (Anti-HA) coated onto gold nanoparticles, the electrical signals were proportional to urinary hippuric acid (HA) in the range of 0.01-5 mg/mL which is enough range to be used for in-field or point-of-care (POC) diagnosis. The proposed electrochemical method can be extended to the applications to detect a wide range of different small molecules in the field of health care.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2011

This paper describes an electrochemical immunosensor for simple, fast and quantitative detection of a urinary hippuric acid which is one of major biological indicator in toluene-exposed humans. The feature of this electrochemical system for immunoassay of hippuric acid is based on the direct conjugation of ferrocene to a hippuric acid. With the competition between the ferrocene-hippuric acid complex and hippuric acid for binding to the anti-hippuric acid monoclonal antibody coated onto gold nanoparticles, the electrical signals are turned out to be proportional to urinary hippuric acid in the range of 0.01-10 mg/mL, which is enough to be used for the point-of-care. The proposed electrochemical method could extend its applications to detect a wide range of different small molecules of antigens in the health care area.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.136-140
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• 2007

By using the discrete-dipole approximation, we computed the extinction spectrum of a gold-silver alloy nanoparticle. We have examined how the surface plasmon resonance changes with respect to the variation in the composition of the alloy particle. As the fraction of silver increases for a 10nm particle, the peak position of the extinction spectrum blue-shifts linearly. The intensity of the peak however increases exponentially with increasing the silver fraction. These results are in accord with the previous experimental results.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.46-51
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• 2013

This study reports a fiber-optic sensor detecting biomolecule by simultaneously monitoring localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) from gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) of ca. $50{\pm}5$ nm attached on one end of optical fiber and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of the reporter molecules adsorbed on the gold surfaces as an additional sensing tool. The sensor was fabricated by immobilizing Au NPs on one end of an optical fiber by chemical reaction. LSPR and SERS signals of the sensor were measured using various refractive indices solutions. Finally, the sensor was applied to observe real-time LSPR sensor-gram and SERS spectra of the reporter molecule of 4-aminothiphenol during the antibody-antigen reaction of interferon-gamma (IFN-${\gamma}$) as a proof-concept experiment of biological applications.

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.2421-2429
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• 2018

Thiol-based self-assembled anchor linked to glucose oxidase (GOx) and gold nanoparticle (GNP) cluster is suggested to enhance the performance of glucose biosensor. By the adoption of thiol-based anchors, the activity of biocatalyst consisting of GOx, GNP, polyethyleneimine (PEI) and carbon nanotube (CNT) is improved because they play a crucial role in preventing the leaching out of GOx. They also promote electron collection and transfer, and this is due to a strong hydrophobic interaction between the active site of GOx and the aromatic ring of anchor, while the effect is optimized with the use of thiophenol anchor due to its simple configuration. Based on that, it is quantified that by the adoption of thiophenol as anchor, the current density of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) redox reaction increases about 42%, electron transfer rate constant ($k_s$) is $9.1{\pm}0.1s^{-1}$ and the value is 26% higher than that of catalyst that does not use the anchor structure.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.698-705
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• 2023

Rapid diagnosis of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is essential for guiding clinical treatment and preventing the spread of MRSA infections. Herein, we present a simple and rapid MRSA screening test based on the aggregation effect of mannose-binding lectin (MBL)-conjugated gold nanoparticles (AuNP), called the MRSA probe. Recombinant MBL protein is a member of the lectin family and part of the innate immune system. It can recognize wall teichoic acid (WTA) on the membrane of MRSA more specifically than that of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) under optimized salt conditions. Thus, the MRSA probe can selectively bind to MRSA, and the aggregation of the probes on the surface of the target bacteria can be detected and analyzed by the naked eye within 5 min. To demonstrate the suitability of the method for real-world application, we tested 40 clinical S. aureus isolates (including 20 MRSA specimens) and recorded a sensitivity of 100%. In conclusion, the MRSA probe-based screening test with its excellent sensitivity has the potential for successful application in the microbiology laboratory.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.386-392
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• 2023

In this work, we describe the reduction kinetics of gold nanoparticles synthesized by plasma discharge in aqueous solutions with varied voltages and precursor (HAuCl₄) concentrations. The reduction rate of [AuCl₄]^- was determined by introducing NaBr to the gold colloidal solution synthesized by plasma discharge, serving as a catalyst in the reduction process. We observed that [AuCl₄]^- was completely reduced when its characteristic absorption peak at 380 nm disappeared, indicating the absence of [AuCl₄]^- for ligand exchange with NaBr. The reduction rate notably increased with the rise in discharge voltage, attributable to the intensified plasma generated by ionization and excitation, which in turn accelerated the reduction kinetics. Regarding precursor concentration, a lower concentration was found to retard the reduction reaction, significantly influencing the reduction kinetics due to the presence of active H⁺ and H radicals. Therefore, the production of strong plasma with high plasma density was observed to enhance the reduction kinetics, as evidenced by optical emission spectroscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.111.1-111.1
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• 2015

As an alternative way to get sophisticated nanostructures, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to directly manipulate building primitives. In particular, assembly of metallic nanoparticles(NPs) can provide various structures for making various metamolecules. As far, conventionally made polygonal shaped metallic NPs showed non-uniform distribution in size and shape which limit its study of fundamental properties and practical applications. In here, we optimized conditions for deterministic manipulation of ultra-smooth and super-spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by AFM. [1] Lowered adhesion force by using platinum-iridium coated AFM tips enabled us to push super-spherical AuNPs in linear motion to pre-programmed position. As a result, uniform and reliable electric/magnetic behaviors of assembled metamolecules were achieved which showed a good agreement with simulation data. Furthermore, visualization of near field for super-spherical AuNPs was also addressed using photosensitive azo-dye polymers. Since the photosensitive azo-dye polymers can directly record the intensity of electric field, optical near field can be mapped without complicated instrumental setup. [2] By controlling embedding depth of AuNPs, we studied electric field of AuNPs in different configuration.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.999-1003
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• 2010

Raman spectra of a single layer graphene sheet placed in different gold substrates were obtained and are discussed in the context of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The gold substrates were composed of a combination of a thermally deposited gold film and a close-packed gold nanosphere layer. The SERS effects were negligible when the excitation wavelength was 514 nm, while the Raman signals were enhanced 3-to 50-fold when the excitation wavelength was 633 nm. The large SERS enhancement accompanied a spectral distortion with appearance of several unidentifiable peaks, as well as enhancement of a broadened D peak. These phenomena are interpreted as the local field enhancement in the nanostructure of the gold substrates. The difference in the enhancement factors among the various gold substrates is explained with a model in which the spatial distribution and polarization of the local field and the orientation of the inserted graphene sheet are considered important.