AnalystPub Date : 2026-09-16DOI: 10.1039/d6an00568c
Diele A G Araújo, William B Veloso, Gilberto J Silva Junior, Davi M de Farias, Lauro A Pradela-Filho, Thiago R L C Paixão
{"title":"Bridging electrochemical performance and affordability: the challenges in characterizing emergent low-cost electrochemical sensors.","authors":"Diele A G Araújo, William B Veloso, Gilberto J Silva Junior, Davi M de Farias, Lauro A Pradela-Filho, Thiago R L C Paixão","doi":"10.1039/d6an00568c","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00568c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The transition from laboratory electroanalytical setups to low-cost electrochemical systems has opened the way for new possibilities for point-of-care diagnostics and environmental monitoring in resource-limited contexts. Recent technologies for material processing, such as additive manufacturing, laser cutting/engraving systems, and open-source electronics, have lowered fabrication costs and expanded access to these devices. However, the electrochemical characterization of low-cost sensors poses challenges when using conventional models, which are useful for characterization under appropriate conditions but may compromise data reliability and complicate comparisons of sensor performance across studies for low-cost materials/platforms. In this review, we provide a critical assessment of the limitations in the electrochemical characterization of low-cost electrochemical devices, along with guidance on estimating electroactive surface area, the use of redox probes, the impact of uncompensated resistance, and the validity of calculating frequency-dependent kinetic parameters. Additionally, the reproducibility and long-term stability of these devices are discussed. Through this, we aim to clarify the factors that lead to miscalculations and misinterpretations in the application of the current literature in low-cost devices characterization and to provide best practices for control experiments and calibration/validation requirements. As a result, we expect that this work will support the development of more reliable standards for the characterization, reproducibility, and validation of low-cost electrochemical sensors for real-world applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5177-5190"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148628788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A novel MoS<sub>2</sub>@Ga-doped ZnO heterojunction SERS substrate for tetracycline detection in water and milk.","authors":"Chunhong Liu, Xiaoke Wang, Hongjuan Wang, Xinyue Zhang, Lisheng Liu, Zhiwei Sun, Haiyun Liu","doi":"10.1039/d6an00513f","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00513f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The misuse of antibiotics in the livestock industry and their improper discharge into natural water bodies threaten public health and ecological security. The sensitive and reliable detection of antibiotic pollution is crucial for preventing the associated damage. In this work, we proposed a MoS<sub>2</sub>@Ga-doped ZnO heterojunction-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering platform for antibiotic detection. The heterostructure facilitates the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs while suppressing their recombination. This enhances the interfacial charge transfer between the heterojunction and the target molecule, leading to a significant amplification of the molecular Raman signal. A simple mixing of the sample with the heterojunction enables highly sensitive detection of antibiotics. The sensing performance was evaluated by detecting tetracycline in water and milk, with limits of detection of 1.82 × 10<sup>-11</sup> mol L<sup>-1</sup> and 2.51 × 10<sup>-12</sup> mol L<sup>-1</sup> in these two matrices, respectively. Furthermore, this platform exhibited robust practicality, anti-interference capability and stability. These advantages highlight the platform's potential for accurate monitoring of antibiotics in different matrices.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5407-5415"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148756942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AnalystPub Date : 2026-09-16DOI: 10.1039/d6an00707d
Sushma Madhavaram, Judy Jays
{"title":"Development and validation of a stability-indicating LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous estimation of empagliflozin and metoprolol in pharmaceutical dosage forms with forced degradation studies and computational assessment of degradation products.","authors":"Sushma Madhavaram, Judy Jays","doi":"10.1039/d6an00707d","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00707d","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The empagliflozin and metoprolol FDC is currently in clinical evaluation (Phase III) for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with hypertension in India. The present study was carried out with the objective to develop and validate a sensitive, selective and stability indicating LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of empagliflozin and metoprolol in bulk drug substances and tablet formulations. Chromatography was performed using a Phenomenex Kinetex® C18 column (150 × 4.6 mm, 2.6 μm, 100 Å) with 5 mM ammonium formate in water with 0.1% formic acid (mobile phase A) and methanol with 5 mM ammonium formate and 0.1% formic acid (mobile phase B). The method showed good linearity for empagliflozin within the range of 100-4000 ng mL<sup>-1</sup> and for metoprolol within the range of 250-10 000 ng mL<sup>-1</sup> with correlation coefficients (<i>R</i><sup>2</sup>) of 0.999 for both analytes. Validation in accordance with the ICH Q2(R2) guidelines demonstrated good accuracy, precision, specificity, robustness and sensitivity. Stability-indicating capability of the method was confirmed from forced degradation studies under acidic, alkaline, oxidative, thermal and photolytic conditions and tentative characterization of degradation products was achieved based on LC-MS/MS fragmentation patterns. To get a preliminary idea of their potential biological and toxicological significance, the suggested degradation products were further assessed using molecular docking and <i>in silico</i> toxicity prediction tools. The developed method offers a reliable analytical platform for routine quality control, stability assessment and degradation profiling of empagliflozin and metoprolol in pharmaceutical development.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5311-5326"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148596682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AnalystPub Date : 2026-09-16DOI: 10.1039/d6an00679e
Biming Mo, Songtao Gao, Jinzuo Zhou, Xiaojian Hao, Hong Jin
{"title":"Effective wavenumber coordinate correction and CO<sub>2</sub> concentration retrieval constrained by an absorption-band prior.","authors":"Biming Mo, Songtao Gao, Jinzuo Zhou, Xiaojian Hao, Hong Jin","doi":"10.1039/d6an00679e","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00679e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Molecular absorption spectroscopy provides a species-selective basis for quantitative gas sensing and compact optical diagnostics in combustion, industrial processes, and emission monitoring. However, in scanned semiconductor laser spectrometers operating without an online frequency reference, residual tuning nonlinearities introduce deviations in the wavenumber coordinate that affect spectral registration, baseline variation, and concentration retrieval. Here, we report a joint inversion method for CO<sub>2</sub> direct absorption spectroscopy, in which the molecular absorption-band structure is used as an internal spectral constraint for effective wavenumber coordinate correction and concentration retrieval. Using the prior trajectory derived from the scan as the initial coordinate, the method estimates the residual wavenumber correction for each scan, a compact model of the non-absorbing intensity baseline, and the CO<sub>2</sub> mole fraction within a unified forward model, without requiring an online Fabry-Perot etalon, reference absorption cell, or wavemeter. In experiments with a DFB laser operating near 4990 cm<sup>-1</sup>, a 45.0 cm effective path length, and standard CO<sub>2</sub>/N<sub>2</sub> gas mixtures with concentrations ranging from 1000 to 4500 ppm, the absorption-band prior method reduced the absorbance residual RMSE from 2.01 × 10<sup>-3</sup> to 9.60 × 10<sup>-4</sup> compared with that of single-peak retrieval. For concentration retrieval, the mean absolute relative error and concentration standard deviation decreased from 4.08% to 1.63% and from 92.3 ppm to 38.9 ppm for single-scan retrieval and from 2.32% to 1.39% and from 60.8 ppm to 27.1 ppm after averaging over nine scan periods, respectively. These results show that spectroscopic constraints applied across the absorption band provide an effective approach for improving spectral registration, concentration accuracy, and retrieval stability over short measurement intervals in DAS systems operating without an online frequency reference.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5470-5481"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148816734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AnalystPub Date : 2026-09-16DOI: 10.1039/d6an00861e
Yang Li, Xieruoying Zhong, Hongzhou Pu, Li He, Xianxiang Wang
{"title":"Copper-based nanozymes as catalysts and reaction terminators for dual-channel colorimetric urea sensing.","authors":"Yang Li, Xieruoying Zhong, Hongzhou Pu, Li He, Xianxiang Wang","doi":"10.1039/d6an00861e","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00861e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Urea is an important clinical biomarker for health monitoring and is also used as a nitrogen-containing adulterant in food products to artificially increase the apparent protein content, creating an important demand for portable and reliable detection methods. In this work, Cu<sub>2</sub>O nanocubes were used as representative copper-based nanozymes to construct a dual-channel colorimetric platform for urea sensing by combining UV-vis absorbance with smartphone-assisted RGB analysis. In the sensing cascade, urease first catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea to generate NH<sub>3</sub>, leading to an increase in solution pH. Since the peroxidase-like (POD-like) activity of Cu<sub>2</sub>O is highly pH-dependent, this pH evolution is converted into a concentration-dependent colorimetric response through the H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-mediated oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). However, residual urease can continue to hydrolyze urea during the subsequent color-development step, causing further pH drift and unstable optical signals. Importantly, Cu<sub>2</sub>O nanocubes function not only as catalytic nanozymes for TMB oxidation, but also as reaction terminators that suppress the residual urease activity, thereby stabilizing the system pH and improving the signal reliability. Based on this mechanism, a gelatin hydrogel sensor was further developed for portable urea monitoring. The absorbance channel showed a linear response over 0-2.2 mM with a detection limit of 5.75 μM, while the RGB channel provided smartphone-readable quantitative analysis. The proposed platform was successfully applied to urea determination in sweat and milk samples, demonstrating its potential for portable biosensing and food safety analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5416-5423"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148785435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hydroxyl-functionalized hollow microporous organic network fiber membranes: fabrication and application in solid-phase extraction of endogenous salicylic acid from plants.","authors":"Qianqian Gu, Wenmin Zhang, Qidong Yu, Fang Tan, Shiye Xie, Shiping Zhu, Xiaoping Wu, Lan Zhang","doi":"10.1039/d6an00744a","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00744a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Membrane-based adsorbents serve as core functional materials for the rapid analysis of trace substances. However, the inherent trade-off between permeability and adsorption capacity generally limits the analytical performance of membrane-based micro-solid phase extraction (M-μSPE) in trace detection. To address this limitation, a hydroxyl-functionalized microporous organic network (MON-OH) membrane was fabricated in this study. Its unique hollow porous structure and abundant hydroxyl active sites effectively balanced the permeability and adsorption performance during extraction. A highly sensitive method for the detection of endogenous salicylic acid (SA) in plants was established by coupling MON-OH-based M-μSPE with HPLC-MS/MS. The results showed that the method had excellent analytical performance, with a wide linear range (1.5-1000.0 pg mL<sup>-1</sup>), a good Pearson correlation coefficient (<i>R</i> ≥ 0.9993), a low limit of detection (0.5 pg mL<sup>-1</sup>), and good reproducibility (RSD ≤ 5.6%, <i>n</i> = 6). This method successfully detected trace levels of salicylic acid (SA) ranging from 1.5 to 50.1 ng g<sup>-1</sup> in tomato roots, stems and leaves. The data revealed that SA in different plant tissues exhibited divergent response patterns under Cd stress, and an obvious concentration threshold existed for SA to respond to Cd exposure. This work demonstrates the outstanding application potential of MON membranes in sample pretreatment and offers a novel synthetic strategy for functionalized MON membranes.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5299-5310"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148838503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AnalystPub Date : 2026-09-16DOI: 10.1039/d6an00882h
Zia Ul Quasim Syed,Umer Hassan
{"title":"Antioxidant Suppression of Hyperoxia-Induced Reactive Oxygen Species in Cultured Rat Hippocampal Neurons","authors":"Zia Ul Quasim Syed,Umer Hassan","doi":"10.1039/d6an00882h","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6an00882h","url":null,"abstract":"Central nervous system oxygen toxicity (CNS-OT) is driven in part by excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during hyperoxic exposure. Herein, we developed an in vitro screening platform using embryonic rat hippocampal neurons to evaluate antioxidant candidates under hyperoxic stress (1.34 ATA) and quantify ROS by Dihydrorhodamine (DHR)123 fluorescence imaging and flow cytometry. Neuronal cultures remained viable throughout the assay, with approximately 87% anti-βIII tubulin staining efficiency and 88% neurite outgrowth-associated viability. Among the compounds tested, sulforaphane and thioredoxin produced the greatest reductions in ROS-positive neurons following 15-minute hyperoxic exposure, with reductions of 53.3% and 54.2%, respectively, at 1 µM. Thymoquinone showed its greatest reduction in ROS production at 0.1 µM, with an approximately 48% reduction, whereas its effect was diminished at 1 µM, indicating a non-monotonic response across the concentrations tested. Following 30-minute hyperoxic exposure, the protective effects of all compounds were reduced. Treatment with drug combinations resulted in a modest improvement in ROS suppression, with reductions ranging from 12.8% to 17.3%.These findings suggest that the proposed in vitro platform can reliably distinguish antioxidant efficacy under controlled hyperoxic conditions and can serve as a practical tool for the preclinical screening and optimization of neuroprotective therapies for CNS oxygen toxicity.","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":"150 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148973256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AnalystPub Date : 2026-09-16DOI: 10.1039/d6an00820h
Jodie Fergusson, Gregory Q Wallace, Sian Sloan-Dennison, Neil C Shand, Duncan Graham, Karen Faulds
{"title":"Analysis of multiplexed SERS-based lateral flow assays: turning qualitative into quantitative for inflammatory bowel disease monitoring.","authors":"Jodie Fergusson, Gregory Q Wallace, Sian Sloan-Dennison, Neil C Shand, Duncan Graham, Karen Faulds","doi":"10.1039/d6an00820h","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00820h","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The development of diagnostic tests that offer rapid and quantitative results can improve the health of patients, suffering from both chronic and acute diseases. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic autoimmune condition, where a patient can undergo periods of sudden flare-ups and prolonged remission. The current biomarkers of interest are either detected using central laboratory methods, or, are non-specific to IBD. In this work, we develop a series of lateral flow immunoassays for the detection of IBD biomarkers lactoferrin and myeloperoxidase, in an artificial stool matrix. By utilising surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active nanotags, we demonstrate the feasibility of these SERS-based lateral flow immunoassays for proof-of-concept singleplex and duplex detection <i>via</i> Raman mapping. Due to the variation in background caused by the stool matrix, we have investigated methods of assessing the SERS signal from the Raman maps, to transition the tests from giving qualitative to quantitative results. This has been achieved by extracting the SERS intensities from the maps associated with non-specific interactions, to define unique intensity thresholds for each lateral flow immunoassay, overall improving the sensitivity, reproducibility, and linearity in limit of detection studies. We achieved limits of detection of 3.2 ng mL<sup>-1</sup> for lactoferrin and 5.0 ng mL<sup>-1</sup> for myeloperoxidase, and limits of quantification of 18.8 ng mL<sup>-1</sup> for lactoferrin and 8.0 ng mL<sup>-1</sup> for myeloperoxidase. These values are well below the \"normal\" level of these biomarkers in stool, indicating this assay would be able to accurately monitor changing biomarker concentrations. Furthermore, we used a ratiometric approach to evaluate the maps from duplex lateral flows and detect each biomarker simultaneously on the same strip. Overall, this work demonstrates that it is possible to quantitatively detect IBD biomarkers in stool on a lateral flow with SERS, using improved Raman signal analysis methods to overcome complex sample background interference and enhance sensitivity.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5439-5448"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13491543/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148785513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AnalystPub Date : 2026-09-16DOI: 10.1039/d6an00352d
Patrycja Baranowska, Trinh Lam, Amy E Herr
{"title":"Bead-free deterministic DNA barcoding using vacuum-driven loading of aqueous oligonucleotides to microwell arrays.","authors":"Patrycja Baranowska, Trinh Lam, Amy E Herr","doi":"10.1039/d6an00352d","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00352d","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Achieving high throughput in experiments requiring sample indexing depends primarily on the precise and reproducible deposition of reagents prior to analysis. Contemporary droplet and microwell systems utilize random deposition of oligonucleotide-coated beads into reaction chambers, requiring costly bead synthesis and offering limited control over the final distribution of barcoded beads. As an alternative, we present deterministic, aqueous barcoding of 512 arrayed microwells using a multi-layer, vacuum-driven microfluidic network. To uniquely barcode each of the 512 microwells, we deposit DNA oligonucleotide solutions designed using a Combinatorial Dual Indexing (CDI) (i5, i7) scheme <i>via</i> deterministic loading. Deterministic fluid loading is achieved by sequentially coupling two bifurcated, orthogonal microchannel networks with a planar microwell array. The microchannel networks actuate fluid flow through a combination of an applied vacuum force and a dead-end channel design. After loading the oligonucleotide solutions, we observed uniform barcode patterning across the arrays of microwells (∼20% CV), reasonable barcode loading times (30-40 min per step), and reduced reagent use (∼8-16 µL at 25 µM oligos <i>vs.</i> 10-50 µL at 100 µM for bead systems). We detected cross-contamination in ∼4% of the microwells. Following DNA barcode delivery, we utilized the platform to generate high-quality ATAC-seq libraries for breast cancer cell line (MCF7) nuclei by integrating tagmentation and on-chip PCR. Overall, we describe a deterministic and bead-free DNA barcoding strategy for efficient barcoding of microwell arrays that are important in single-cell analyses.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5267-5277"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148596684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Geometry-assisted dielectrophoretic localization on a CMOS sensor array for label-free detection of viable <i>Escherichia coli</i>.","authors":"Siyao Chen, Yoshihisa Yamashige, Naoshi Kondo, Yuichi Ogawa, Keiichiro Shiraga","doi":"10.1039/d6an00851h","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6an00851h","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rapid and sensitive detection of viable bacteria is essential in food safety, healthcare, and environmental monitoring. Although label-free electrical biosensing offers a rapid and simplified alternative to conventional methods, its performance is often constrained by inefficient transport and accumulation of target cells at the sensing interface. Here, we present a microfluidic geometry-assisted dielectrophoretic (DEP) enrichment strategy integrated with a 65 GHz LC-oscillator dielectric sensing platform for label-free detection of <i>Escherichia coli</i>. A Y-shaped microfluidic architecture coupled with a high-density DEP electrode array (62 × 24, 3 × 3 mm<sup>2</sup>) enables spatial redistribution of bacteria from a wide upstream region into a confined downstream detection channel. This geometry-induced concentration enhances the effective local cell density per sensing element, thereby amplifying the initial sensing response under the same DEP operating conditions. Under optimized conditions (500 kHz, 0.01 S m<sup>-1</sup>), distinct DEP behaviors of live, pasteurized, and autoclaved cells enable preferential enrichment of viable bacteria. Compared with a straight-channel configuration, the proposed design achieves a 20-fold enhancement in sensitivity, with a detection limit of 4.4 × 10<sup>3</sup> CFU mL<sup>-1</sup> within 20 min, further improved to 8.8 × 10<sup>2</sup> CFU mL<sup>-1</sup> with extended enrichment. Unlike systems that use the same electrodes for DEP manipulation and impedance sensing, this platform separates the two electrical functions into co-located DEP and LC sensing units. It enables localized, per-element frequency-shift mapping of geometry-enhanced bacterial accumulation within the CMOS array.</p>","PeriodicalId":63,"journal":{"name":"Analyst","volume":" ","pages":"5366-5376"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148676155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}