Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Yukihiro Sugiyama

Masahiro Iseki

Mineo Ikematsu

Akifumi Iwama

Yasuhiro Oue

Azusa Nakagawa

A technique of stably bonding a structure including a carbon nanotube with another structure is to be provided. Also, a nano-device that offers excellent performance and high production efficiency is to be provided. A polymer and a carbon nanotube are dispersed in a dispersion medium and on a filled liquid in a Langmuir trough, to obtain a carbon nanotube-based structure constituted of a carbon nanotube and the polymer wound around its rounded surface. The carbon nanotube-based structure is adhered to a substrate, and a ligand is immobilized on a side chain of the polymer. A receptor is immobilized on another carbon nanotube-based structure, and the both carbon nanotube-based structures are joined because of a specific interaction between the ligand and the receptor.

Bonded structure including a carbon nanotube

A method for detecting and identifying a chemical substance in various phases such as a vapor phase and a liquid phase. The chemical substance being measured is diffused into a predetermined phase. Then, an electric state at an electrode existing in the predetermined phase is detected as a change with time based on the diffusion and absorption of the chemical substance on the electrode. A pattern of the change of the electric state with time is prepared. A fitting function based on the pattern is set and parameters of the chemical substance being measured are found. A distance between the parameters of the chemical substance being measured and parameters of the reference substance which is detected is determined. In the case of a detection of a chemical substance in a liquid phase, before detecting the electric state at the electrode existing in the liquid phase, a predetermined electrolytic solution is supplied around the electrode to stabilize the electric state of the electrode and then the liquid phase containing the chemical substance being measured is supplied to the electrode.

Method for detecting chemical substances

To obtain a stable non-linear oscillator using polypyrrole, KCl liquid electrolyte is separated with a working electrode 14 provided with a polypyrrole film 14a. A counter electrode 16 is provided on one of the separated portions of the liquid electrolyte, and a reference electrode 12 is provided in the other separated liquid electrode portion. The counter electrode 16, working electrode 14 and reference electrode 12 are connected to a potentiostat 10. The potential on the working electrode 14 is set to be between the oxidizing and reducing potentials of polypyrrole. With oxidizing or reducing reaction of polypyrrole, an ion concentration gradient is produced in the liquid electrolyte across polypyrrole film to change the potentials on the reference and working electrodes 12 and 14, thus causing an oscillating current between the working and counter electrodes 14 and 16.

Non-linear electrochemical oscillator and sensor using the same

A biological oscillating device comprises a lipid-impregnated membrane which is disposed in an electrolyte solution and in which is buried an ion channel having a selectivity opposite to that of the lipid-impregnated membrane, and an electrode provided for transmitting a membrane potential of the lipid-impregnated membrane in the form of an electrical signal. When a membrane potential is caused across the lipid-impregnated membrane by the application of an electric current via an eletrode, or by the activation of the ion pump, an ion pump, an ion channel opens once the magnitude of the membrane potential reaches the active potential of the ion channel, whereby the membrane potential is accordingly eliminated. Upon the elimination of the membrane potential, the ion channel is closed to allow the membrane potential to be again raised. Then, once reaching the active potential of the ion channel, the ion channel reopens so that the membrane potential is correspondingly eliminated. Through the repetition of such procedures, an oscillating electrical signal can be generated.

Biological oscillating device

A neural modeling device comprising an electrolyte, a lipid or lipid-impregnated membrane which is situated in the electrolyte and in which an ion pump and an ion channel are buried, and an electrode for transmitting a potential of the lipid or lipid-impregnated membrane as an electrical signal. The ion pump actively transports selected ions in the electrolyte through the membrane from one side to the other side in response to an external stimulus such as light irradiation. When the difference in potential between the opposite sides of the membrane reaches a threshold, the ion channel opens to passively transport selected ions in a direction reverse to the ion transporting direction of the ion pump. When this device is exposed to light, the ion pump actively transports ions to generate a potential in the lipid or lipid-impregnated membrane. Upon detection of this potential, the ion channel opens to eliminate the potential, and then another potential will be generated again by the active transportation of the ion pump. Thus it is possible to generate an oscillating electrical signal by an external stimulus such as light irradiation.

Growing community of inventors

Tsukuba, Japan

Yukihiro Sugiyama