Hokkaido University · Materials Science
Professor Kuniharu Ijiro's research lab specializes in the development of functional nanomaterials and plasmonic nanostructures for advanced biosensing and bioimaging applications. The lab focuses on creating tunable, responsive substrates—such as thermoresponsive hydrogel-based SERS platforms and DNA-templated assemblies—that enable dynamic control over molecular detection at the nanoscale. Key research directions include surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for label-free protein and DNA detection, biofunctionalized silver nanoparticles, and the integration of DNA with lipid and protein architectures for sensing and nanofabrication. The lab emphasizes innovative material design that bridges biology, nanotechnology, and analytical chemistry to enable sensitive, real-time detection of biomolecules.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Active gap control on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements is performed using tunable plasmonic nanostructures, which are fabricated through the formation of gold nanoparticle self-assembled thin films on solid substrates and their subsequent transference onto polyacrylic acid gel. When hemoproteins are used as targets, signal intensities increased more than 10-fold due to this active gap control. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting informat
A DNA–lipid complex is readily prepared by mixing aqueous solutions of anionic DNA and cationic dialkyl amphiphiles, which thus forms a double helical structure and exhibits intercalation of dyes in chloroform solution.
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an attractive technique in molecular detection with high sensitivity and label-free characteristics. However, its use in protein detection is limited by the large volume of proteins, hindering its approach to the narrow spaces of hotspots. In this study, we fabricated a Au nanoTriangle plate Array on Gel (AuTAG) as an SERS substrate by attaching a Au nanoTriangle plate (AuNT) arrangement on a thermoresponsive hydrogel surface. The AuTAG acts as an acti
We demonstrate a facile approach for converting AgCl to functional silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) via photoreduction in the presence of DNA. The resulting AgNPs are biofunctionalized, and exhibit photostable luminescence and DNA-specific Raman signatures, showing high potential for use in DNA-directed recognition and advanced bioimaging.
The specific interaction of streptavidin with biotinylated lipids at the air−water interface leads to a formation of optically anisotropic two-dimensional streptavidin (2-D) crystals, where two of the original four biotin-binding sites remain free. These assembled streptavidin matrixes were used as a template for docking of double-stranded oligonucleotides biotinylated at a terminal or a centered position. A biotinylated lipid monolayer was deposited on an electrode of a quartz crystal microbala
The revolutionary idea that DNA can play a non-biological role in a material world has indeed become today’s reality. Although much attentions have recently been paid to “structural DNA nanotechnology” centered on DNA origami, due to the need for DNA computation, hybridization and modification that are usually not easily accessed, reproduced, or manipulated, preparation of nanostructures using DNA origami may have yet set a threshold for researcher to advance their fields with functional nanomat
The rapid development of DNA nanotechnology over the past decade has enabled the self-assembly of conducting building blocks towards the construction of conductive nanowires with potential applications in electronic nanodevices. To date, however, construction of nanostructures with novel electrical properties via DNA templating remains poorly explored. Here, we show that DNA can be used as a guiding template for the fabrication of polyaniline nanowires and gold nanoparticle (AuNP)–polyaniline-al
Gold nanorods (GNRs) coated with a single kind of ligand show thermoreponsive two-step assembly to provide a hierarchical structure. The GNRs (33 nm in length × 14 nm in diameter) coated with a hexa(ethylene glycol) (HEG) derivative form side-by-side assemblies at 30 °C (T<sub>A1</sub> ) as a steady state through dehydration. By further heating to over 40 °C (T<sub>A2</sub> ), larger assemblies, which are composed of the side-by-side assembled units, are formed as hierarchical structures. The de
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