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Applications of Spectroscopy and Imaging in Environmental and Biomedical Studies, as Well as Clinical Diagnosis

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomedical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1084

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Pembroke, NC 28372, USA
Interests: analytical spectroscopy; chemical sensing; environmental, forensic, and biomedical studies; drug discovery; molecular recognition; chemometrics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USA
Interests: analytical chemistry; environmental remediation; drug delivery; nanomaterials; sensors; biomedical imaging; biomedical diagnostics; forensics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a continued interest in developing analytical techniques that can meet the demands of increasingly complex environmental and biomedical challenges, as well as clinical diagnosis. Spectroscopy and imaging present an opportunity to meet these demands. The low cost and rapidity of spectroscopic methods, combined with the availability of handheld spectrometers, have enhanced the capability of spectroscopy for in situ sample analysis and real-time field studies. Advances in instrumental technological innovation have promoted the development of spectroscopic imaging systems and hyperspectral data mining techniques, which has significantly enhanced the capacity for sample analysis in environmental and biomedical studies, as well as clinical diagnosis.

This Special Issue seeks fundamental and applied research papers or review articles on the use of spectroscopy, imaging, and hyperspectral data analysis in environmental and biomedical studies, as well as clinical diagnosis. We welcome studies on the use of optical spectroscopy (Raman, SERS, UV–visible, FTIR, fluorescence, chemiluminescence) and microscopic imaging in nanoscience; materials science; photocatalysis; molecular recognition; nanotechnology; sensing; investigations of disease processes; cancer and pathogen detection; biological sample analysis; and detection of emerging contaminants (PFAS, radionuclides, heavy metal ions, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, etc.).

Prof. Dr. Sayo O. Fakayode
Dr. David Bwambok
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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

  • spectroscopy
  • microscopic imaging
  • nanoscience
  • materials science
  • nanotechnology
  • sensing
  • disease process
  • disease diagnostics
  • cancer detection
  • pathogen detection
  • biological sample analysis
  • emerging contaminants
  • perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
  • microplastics
  • pharmaceuticals
  • hyperspectral data analysis
  • photocatalysis
  • molecular recognition

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 3439 KB  
Article
Colorimetric Detection of Arsenic (III) and Mercury (II) Ions in Human Serum Albumin Samples Using Cysteine-Capped Gold Nanoparticles
by Sayo O. Fakayode, David K. Bwambok, Eris Arth, Ufuoma Benjamin, Rebecca Huisman, Allison Lugue, Alex Tokos, Kayley Owens and Peter Rosado Flores
Sensors 2026, 26(9), 2875; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26092875 - 4 May 2026
Viewed by 812
Abstract
A continued interest in developing a low-cost, rapid screening method for quantifying Hg (II) and As (III) in biological samples stems from the toxic effects of human exposure to these heavy metal ions. This study reports the use of cysteine-capped gold nanoparticles (CysAuNPs) [...] Read more.
A continued interest in developing a low-cost, rapid screening method for quantifying Hg (II) and As (III) in biological samples stems from the toxic effects of human exposure to these heavy metal ions. This study reports the use of cysteine-capped gold nanoparticles (CysAuNPs) for chemical sensing, colorimetric detection, and quantification of As (III) and Hg (II) ions in human serum albumin (HSA) under physiological conditions. Zeta potential measurements indicated that the CysAuNPs have a negative surface charge, which was decreased in the presence of HSA and reversed to a positive value upon binding of As (III) and Hg (II) metal ions. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy revealed changes in HSA conformation upon binding to As (III) and Hg (II) ions. X-ray fluorescence enables rapid qualitative screening for As (III) and Hg (II) ions before colorimetric quantification. The figures of merit (R2 ≥ 0.940) and the low detection limits (0.05 ppm for As (III) ions and 0.02 ppm for Hg (II)) in serum albumin demonstrate the high sensitivity of the method. The developed calibration curves correctly quantified the concentration of As (III) and Hg (II) ions of independently prepared test validation samples in HSA with an accuracy of ≥95% over a period of seven months without recalibrations, demonstrating the stability of CysAuNPs in solution and the robustness of the method for analysis of As (III) and Hg (II) ions in serum albumin. Full article
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