Electrochemical detectors prepared by electroless deposition for microfabricated electrophoresis chips

Microfabricated capillary electrophoresis (CE) chips with integrated electrochemical detection have been developed on glass substrates. An electroless deposition procedure was used to deposit a gold film directly onto the capillary outlet to provide high-sensitivity electrochemical detection for catechol and several nitroaromatic explosives. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the electroless gold film contains nanoscopic gold aggregates (100 12150 nm) with an average thickness of 79 nm. The electroless deposition procedure can be easily and routinely performed in any wet-chemistry laboratory, and electroless gold can be deposited onto complex and internal surfaces. Intimate coupling of electrochemical detection and CE chips obviates the need for a coupling mechanism or tedious alignment procedures. With nitroaromatic compounds as a working model, microchip capillary electrophoresis equipped with electroless gold has proven to provide high sensitivity and fast response times for sensor applications. The CE microchip system was capable of separation and determination of explosive compounds including TNT in less than 130 s with detection limits ranging from 24 to 36 \u3bcg/L, i.e., 4-fold enhancements in detection efficiency in comparison to thick-film technology.NRC publication: Ye

Alternative Approaches to Governance in the EU: EU Social Policy and the European Employment Strategy

Recent actions by the European Union reveal a shift away from traditional, top-down, command and control governance. This can be seen in the structure of traditional tools like directives, as many recent directives, especially in social policy-making, tend to be more open and flexible. But the move to more flexible and participatory approaches can best be seen in areas like the European Employment Strategy (EES), which departs radically from traditional regulatory governance approaches. This article explores the increased use of alternative approaches to governance in the EU by examining the EES as an example of this shift. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003.

New Governance in the European Union: A Theoretical Perspective

New modes of governance based on voluntary performance standards, rather than compulsory regulation, have gained salience in the European Union (EU). Can these new modes of governance offer a credible solution to the current challenges faced by EU policy-making? In this article, we assess the potential of new governance in the light of the theory of democratic experimentalism. This theoretical perspective suggests, first, that co-ordination by voluntary performance standards can lead to more effective rules and more opportunities for political participation; second, that the scope of this mode of governance in the EU is not confined to cases which are explicitly flagged as new governance; and third, that one of the main problems is how a voluntary mode of governance can coexist with compulsory regulation. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2004.