Highly selective and sensitive near-infrared fluorescent sensors for cadmium in aqueous solution

On the basis of tricabocyanine, two near-infrared fluorescent sensors CYP-1 and CYP-2 have been designed and synthesized. Both of them can selectively and sensitively recognize Cd(2+) from other metal ions, especially the CYP-2, which can distinguish Cd(2+) in neutral buffer solution.     

Saturation transfer spectroscopy: signals sensitive to very slow molecular reorientation

A density matrix-transition rate matrix formalism is employed to compute the eight unique electron paramagnetic resonance signals at the first two harmonics of the applied Zeeman modulation. Calculations are carried out for conditions appropriate for investigating spin-labeled biomolecules with partially saturating microwave fields and Zeeman modulation amplitudes comparable to resonance linewidths. Spectra are computed for rotational correlation times ranging from 10^?7 to 10^?3 s and for modulation frequencies of 50 and 100 kHz. These simulations indicate that of the eight signals the in-phase dispersion signal at the first harmonic of the modulation and the out-of-phase dispersion signal at the first harmonic afford the best sensitivity to molecular motion and the largest signal amplitudes. It is suggested that study of these signals is the method of choice for monitoring slowly tumbling spin labels when signal-to-noise considerations are critical. The conclusions derived from computer simulations are borne out by experimental measurements performed on 10^?3 M solutions of the steroid spin label 17β-hydroxy-4′,4′-dimethylspiro-[5α-androstrance-3,2′-oxazolidin]-3′-oxyl in sec-butylbenzene.     

Cyclen-functionalized perylenebisimides as sensitive and selective fluorescent sensors for Pb2+ in aqueous solution

Cyclen-functionalized perylenediimides PBI-1 and PBI-2 were first synthesized as highly sensitive and selective fluorescent chemosensors for Pb(2+) in aqueous solution. PBI-2 shows a better selectivity for Pb(2+) in the presence of other metal ions and, importantly, it can successfully enter the cell and be applied in imaging of living cells.     

Application of sensitive hydrogels in chemical and pH sensors

In the present work, pH-sensitive poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(acrylic acid) (PVA/PAA) blends as well as hydrogels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), which are sensitive to organic solvent concentration in aqueous solutions, were used in silicon micromachined sensors. A sensitivity of approximately 15 mV/pH was obtained for a pH sensor with a 50 μm thick PVA/PAA hydrogel layer in a pH range above the acid exponent of acrylic acid (pK_a=4.7). The output voltage versus pH-value characteristics and the long-term signal stability of hydrogel-based sensors were investigated and the measurement conditions necessary for high signal reproducibility were determined. The influence of the preparation conditions of the hydrogel films on the sensitivity and response time of the chemical and pH sensors is discussed.     

DNA conformational switches as sensitive electronic sensors of analytes

The electrical conductivity of DNA is dependent on its conformational state. We demonstrate here that such a dependence may be harnessed for the electronic sensing of external analytes, for instance, adenosine. Such a DNA sensor incorporates an analyte "receptor", whose altered conformation in the presence of bound analyte switches the conformation, and hence, the conductive path between two DNA double-helical stems. Two distinct designs for such sensors are described here, that permit significant electrical conduction through a "detector" double-helical stem only in the presence of the bound analyte. In the first design, current flows through the analyte receptor itself, whereas in the second, current flows in a path adjacent to the receptor. The former design may be especially suitable for certain categories of analytes, including heterocycle-containing compounds such as adenosine, whereas the latter design should be generally applicable to the detection of any molecular analyte, large or small. Since analyte detection in these DNA sensors is electronic, the potential exists for their application in rapid and automated chip-based detection of small molecules as well as of proteins and other macromolecules.     

All-solid-state potentiometric sensors sensitive to nonionic surfactants based on ionophores containing ethoxylate units

Earlier work of potentiometric Ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) sensitive to nonionic surfactants of the polyethoxylate type is further extended. The ISEs constructed were all-solid-state sensors with plasticized PVC membranes. The sensing material was a tetraphenylborate salt of the barium complex with a polyethoxylate nonionic surfactant. As membrane component, the combinations of two polyethoxylates of the nonylphenoxy type, which differed in the number of oxyethylene units (5 or 12), and two different plasticizers, (o-nitrophenyloctyl ether and o-nitrophenylphenyl ether), were tested. The response of these electrodes to different nonionic surfactants and the interference effect of several species has been evaluated. For all the types of tested electrodes, the sensitivities shown were ca. 30.0 mV dec(-1) and the limit of detection, ca. 10(-5) M, when a nonylphenoxyde with 12 oxyethylene units was used as standard. The membrane with the best response characteristics was then applied in potentiometric titrations of this kind of surfactants in the presence of Ba(2+) ion and using tetraphenylborate as the titrant.     

Chiral response of single walled carbon nanotube based sensors to adsorption of amino acids: a theoretical model

Calculations of the interaction energy and dielectric responses of chiral single walled carbon nanotubes to the presence of amino acid enantiomers are carried out. A theoretical study is developed to show that the frequency shifts of selected nanotubes conveniently tailored to the size of the probed molecules and used in a resonator configuration can selectively detect different species of amino acids and the left- and right-handed enantiomers of these species. Criteria for an optimization of the adsorption energy and frequency response on the size and chiral angle of the nanotubes are given. It is found that a very small set of carbon tubes obeys these conditions.     

Flip-flop sensors: a new class of silicon sensors

Integrated sensors based on flip-flops have been succesfully fabricated for the measurement of several physical parameters and subsequently tested. The sensors consist of flip-flops in which one circuit element is sensitive to the desired physical parameter. The sensing action consists of alternately bringing the flip-flop into an unstable and a stable state and counting the resulting ones or zeros. This number is a measure for the asymmetry of the flip-flop and thus for the physical parameter. To illustrate the principle, a force sensor based on a flip-flop containing piezoresistors is presented.     

Molecular modelling of host-guest interactions for mass sensitive chemical sensors

Paracyclophanes are effective coatings for mass sensitive chemical sensors. The enzyme analogue recognition can preferably be used to detect aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons. Molecular modelling by the MM3 force field allows the prediction of an efficient analyte inclusion. Besides the necessary steric complementarity it could be shown that the interaction between the methyl groups of aromatic guests (e.g. toluene) and the aromatic walls of the host is essential for hostguest complexation. These phenomena get more pronounced if bicyclic cyclophanes are applied and these sensitive materials enable the detection of only a few ppm of toluene with SAW devices. Furtheron, the electron-rich diphenylether moieties of these hosts guarantee interactions with electron-deficiency analytes such as chlorinated hydrocarbons with a selectivity superior to that of the monocyclic materials.Dedicated to Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. J.F.K. Huber on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

Evaluation of the performance of sensors based on optical imaging of a chemically sensitive layer

Interest in the use of the optical properties of chemical indicators is growing steadily. Among the optical methods that can be used to capture changes in sensing layers, those producing images of large-area devices are particularly interesting for chemical sensor array development. Until now, few studies addressed the characterization of image sensors from the point of view of their chemical sensor application. In this paper, a method to evaluate such performance is proposed. It is based on the simultaneous measurement of absorption events in a metalloporphyrin layer with an image sensor and a quartz microbalance (QMB). Exploiting the well-known behaviour of QMB, comparison of signals enables estimation of the minimum amount of absorbed molecules that the image sensor can detect. Results indicate that at the single pixel level a standard image sensor (for example a webcam) can easily detect femtomoles of absorbed molecules. It should therefore be possible to design sensor arrays in which the pixels of images of large-area sensing layers are regarded as individual chemical sensors providing a ready and simple method for large sensor array development.     

A highly sensitive water-soluble system to sense glucose in aqueous solution

A glucose sensing switch is formed by water soluble conjugated polymer (PP-S-BINOL) and boronic acid-functionalized benzyl viologen (o-BBV). The two-component system shows a high sensitivity for glucose sensing with a 17-fold increase in the fluorescence intensity in the presence of 100 mM glucose.     

Contribution of polymeric swelling to the overall response of capacitive gas sensors

A new method for investigation of the swelling of polymers on exposure to gas or vapour has been devised and tested. It uses an optical profilometer (based on the chromatic aberration of a lens system) which is integrated into a computer-controlled gas-dosing and mixing setup. Gas and/or vapour concentration-dependent measurements have been carried out for thick layers of the polymers commonly used in gravimetric and capacitive gas sensors: poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), poly(ether urethane) (PEUT), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The thickness of PAA, PVP, and PEUT films changed significantly on exposure to humidity. These data have been used to derive the sorption isotherms of the respective polymers, which were found to be Henry or Flory–Huggins isotherms. Comparison of the geometrical (swelling) responses with capacitive responses revealed a strong correlation. The correlation, which occurs because both types of response are proportional to the water content of the polymer, is also valid for polymers with nonlinear gas responses. Finally the geometrical and electrical characteristics of the capacitive samples were used to explain the dependence of the capacitive response of different polymers on the concentration of the target gas or vapour. In this way was deduced that PDMS, which does not swell on exposure to humidity, swells in the presence of 2,3-dimethylpentane, for which no profilometer evaluations are yet available.     

Highly sensitive sensors based on the immobilization of tyrosinase in chitosan

A novel tyrosinase biosensor has been developed for a subpicomolar detection of phenols, which is based on the immobilization of tyrosinase in a positively charged chitosan film on a glassy carbon electrode. It was found that chitosan cross-linked with (3-aminooryloxypropyl) dimethoxymethylsilane is beneficial for the immobilization of tyrosinase. The large microscopic surface area and porous morphology of chitosan matrix lead to high enzyme loading, and the enzyme entrapped in this matrix can retain its bioactivity and the positively charged surface of chitosan can also display a good anti-interference ability to the substances with positive charge. Hence, the resulting sensor offers a high-sensitivity (150 nA.nM(-1)) for the monitoring of phenols, and the detection limit is as low as 5.0 x 10(-11) M. Its response time is less than 2 s reaching 95% of the steady-state value. It may retain 75% of the activity for at least 70 days.     

Bioinspired design of highly sensitive flexible tactile sensors for wearable healthcare monitoring

The design of microscale architectures integrated with low-dimensional nanomaterials for tactile sensors has attracted considerable attention owing to their high performance for various potential applications, especially in the field of healthcare monitoring. However, there still remains a critical challenge to achieve high sensitivity in response to different magnitude external pressure. Herein, we introduce a high performance capacitive tactile sensor based on Silver nanowires coated biomimetic hierarchical array architecture, which consists of mini-domes by the way of vacuum adsorption from through-hole arrays and micro-cones by duplicating Calathea zebrina leaf, respectively. This hybrid graded microstructure as electrode exhibits remarkably improved sensitivity and stimulus responding range when compared with the other monotonous counterparts. Moreover, an optimized ionic gel film with remarkable interfacial capacitance is sandwiched by microstructured electrodes as the dielectric layer, further boosting the performance of the tactile sensor. As a result, the obtained sensor demonstrates a board detection range from 24 Pa to 90 kPa with a maximum sensitivity of 37.8 kPa^?1, and a fast response time (<78 ms). These superior performances of our tactile sensor lay a foundation for various applications in healthcare monitoring. It can not only sense and distinguish subtle arterial pulse signals even under different ages, genders and states of motion but also monitor physiological activity with large pressure as well, such as breathing, plantar pressure, and so on. We envision this bionic tactile sensor holds great potential in wearable electronics.     

The dielectric response with respect to the weight distribution of relaxation times

The subjects of this paper are the analytical and partly numerical calculations concerning the problem how the dielectric response in complex solid dielectric materials depends on a statistical distribution of relaxation times.     

Substituent dependent fluorescence response of diazacrown-based PET sensors

The sensing ability of three 1,10-diaza-18-crown-6 based sensors bearing a coumarin fluorophore was studied and compared with the analogous monoaza-18-crown-6 sensor. Coordination experiments between hosts and organic ammonium salts with varying steric demand were studied using fluorescence and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. We have found that the fluorescent signal generated on complexation was greatly influenced by the structure of the sensor. Surprisingly, in two cases, we observed the decrease of fluorescence on complexation, which was attributed to changes in the conformational dynamics of the sensors on complexation.     

A sensitive two-phase titration of anionic surfactants with a dilute tetraphenylphosphonium chloride solution

A visual indicator method is described for titrations of anionic surfactants with 5 × 10^-5 M tetraphenylphosphonium solution. Two dyes, the hydrophilic neutral red and the hydrophobic tetrabromophenolphthalein ethyl ester, are used as indicator in the presence of 1,2-dichloroethane.     

Study on the synthesis of novel fluorescent macrocyclic sensors and their sensitive properties for Cu2+ and Fe3+ in aqueous solution

In this work, we synthesised and characterised three novel fluorescence macrocyclic sensors containing optically active dansyl groups. The studies for the interaction of the synthesised compounds with various mental ions (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Ag⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Ba²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Co²⁺, Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cr³⁺, Al³⁺, Fe³⁺) were performed by fluorescence titration, Job’s plot, ESI-MS and DFT calculations. The results showed that the sensors 1a–1c displayed selective recognition for Cu²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions and formed stoichiometry 1:1 complex through PET mechanism in DMSO/H₂O solution (1:1, v/v, pH 7.4 of HEPES). The binding constant (K) and detection limit were calculated.