Release date: 2014-06-03
Recently, a number of scientists at Nankai University have conducted an interdisciplinary collaborative study to realize the ultra-sensitive single-cell real-time flow sensing by utilizing the optical phenomenon that graphene is extremely sensitive to the refractive index of the medium under total internal reflection. This scientific achievement enables cancer cells to be accurately "photo-tested" at the beginning of formation, with an accuracy of one-thousandth of the number of cells.
Graphene is a single-layer carbon atom structure arranged in a honeycomb shape. It is also the thinnest and hardest nano material known at present, and has excellent physical and chemical properties. Under the special structure of total internal reflection, it is one of the important characteristics of graphene materials to be extremely sensitive to the refractive index of the medium. The research team led by Professor Tian Jianguo and Professor Liu Zhibo from the School of Physics, Nankai University found that the sensitivity of the refractive index has a great relationship with the number of layers of graphene, and the number of layers has an optimal value. They and the group led by Chen Yongsheng of the School of Chemistry of Nankai University continued to control the number of layers of graphene, and finally preferred the graphene material with a thickness of 8 nm, and the sensitivity and resolution of the refractive index reached the highest. On this basis, the research team also cooperated with Professor Pan Leiwei of TEDA Institute of Applied Physics to combine microfluidic technology and refractive index difference of diseased cells to apply to single cell sensing.
The reporter saw in the laboratory that the experimenter spread the graphene evenly on one side of the prism, and built a cell channel above the graphene. During the experiment, the light beam is incident from one side of the prism, and the penetrating graphene is irradiated on the cell channel, and the reflected light is emitted from the other side of the prism. Because the shape, size and nature of cancer cells are different from normal cells, its effect on the polarization state of reflected light is also very different from that of normal cells. The experimenter can obtain a waveform by photoelectric conversion. If there are cancer cells in the cell channel, there will be a distinct peak on the waveform. Field experiments have shown that even if one of thousands of normal cells has a lesion, this "photometric" method can accurately identify it. Liu Zhibo introduced: "This method allows rapid detection of mobile cell samples and enables cancer cells to be detected as soon as possible. The application of this result will provide a new way for cancer prevention."
It is understood that the use of graphene for ultra-sensitive single-cell real-time flow sensing research has attracted the attention of scientists from various countries. The achievements of scientists at Nankai University have been published in the authoritative journal Nanocommunication in the field of international nanoscience and technology.
Source: Guangming Daily
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