Research

Led by Professor Ke Du, we are an interdisciplinary research team dedicated to address global challenges including health care, manufacturing, and cleaner water by combining fundamental studies of biomolecules at single molecule level with novel nanostructured materials and automated microfluidic systems.  

In vivo bio-imaging 
In this project, we aim to develop an optical waveguide platform for the in vivo imaging and sensing of infected brain tissues, enabled by a fully-enclosed and liquid core waveguide fiber system. The liquid core is used to deliver drugs into the tissue without losing light signal. This platform will be used to better understand infectious diseases and neurological diseases.

Recent papers:
L. Liu et al. "Viral nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas12a using high contrast cleavage detection on micro-ring resonator biosensors." Frontiers in Biological Detection: From Nanosensors to Systems XIII (2020): 1166207.   

K. Du et al. "Superhydrophobic waveguide: liquid-core air-cladding waveguide platform for optofluidics." Applied Physics Letters. 113 (2018): 143701. 

R. Layouni et al. "High contrast cleavage detection for enhancing porous silicon sensor sensitivity." Optics Express. 29 (2021): 1-11. 
Nanobiosensing
In this project, we are exploring point-of-care devices for the detection of viral RNA in blood, such as Ebola and Zika. We pursue not only fluorescence detection, but also Raman and electrical detection. A high sensitivity is achieved thereby avoiding nucleic acid amplification.
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Recent papers:
P. Qin et al. "Rapid and fully microfluidic Ebola virus detection with CRISPR-Cas13a." ACS Sensors.
4 (2019): 1048-1054. 
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​K. Du et al. "Microfluidic system for detection of viral RNA in blood using a barcode fluorescence reporter and a photocleavable capture probe." Analytical Chemistry 89.22 (2017): 12433-12440.

K. Du et al. "Multiplexed efficient on-chip sample preparation and sensitive amplification-free detection of Ebola virus." Biosensors and Bioelectronics. 91 (2017): 489-496.

K. Hass et al. "Integrated micropillar PDMS accurate CRISPR detection system for viral DNA sensing." ACS Omega. 42 (2020): 27433-27441. 

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​​Nanomanufacturing
​In this project, we are developing nanomanufacturing techniques that can pattern nanostructures with a large surface area and high uniformity. Examples include soft stencil nanolithography for high aspect ratio, multi-scale hierarchical nanostructures patterning.

Recent papers: 
K. Du et al. "Self-formation of polymer nanostructures in plasma etching: mechanisms and applications." Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. 28 (2018): 014006.

K. Du et al. "Selective hierarchical patterning of silicon nanostructures via soft nanostencil lithography." Nanotechnology 28.46 (2017): 465303.

K. Du et al. "Wafer-Scale pattern transfer of metal nanostructures on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates via holographic nanopatterns." ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 4.10 (2012): 5505-5514.

J. Ding et al. "Transfer patterning of large-area graphene nanomesh via holographic lithography and plasma etching." Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B. 32.6 (2014): 06FF01. 
Nanomaterials
In this project, we are investigating materials properties that can be controlled by temperature, surface chemistry, and pH value. Examples include porous oxide materials which are formed by the Kirkendall Effect at the nanoscale.   


Recent papers:
X. Chen et al. "Experimental and theoretical study on the microparticle trapping and release in a deformable nano-sieve channel." Nanotechnology. 5 (2019): 05LT01. 

A. El Mel et al. "Electron beam nanosculpting of kirkendall oxide nanochannels." ACS Nano. 8.2 (2014): 1854-1861.

K. Du et al. "Fabrication of polymer nanowires via maskless O2 plasma etching." Nanotechnology 25.16 (2014): 165301.

Y. Jiang et al. "Nanotexturing of conjugated polymers via one-step maskless oxygen plasma etching for enhanced tunable wettability." Langmuir. 33.27 (2017): 6885-6894.