MOLECULAR RECOGNITION IN METAL ION SENSORS

DOE IS SEEKING ADVANCED SENSORS THAT WILL PROVIDE HIGHLY LOCALIZED SENSING OF CHEMICAL SPECIES OF MATERIALS ON LINE AND IN REAL TIME. WE PROPOSE TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NOVEL METAL ION SENSORS, FOR THE REAL TIME DETECTION AND "IN SITU" QUANTIFICATION OF TARGET METAL IONS. WE WILL SPECIFICALLY DEVELOP POLYMERS WITH MOLECULAR RECOGNITION PROPERTIES FOR METAL IONS SUCH AS NICKEL, COPPER, CADMIUM, MERCURY, CHROMIUM, ETC. THE MATRIX OF THE POLYMERS WILL BE IMPRINTED WITH SPECIFIC SIZE CAVITIES BY MEANS OF TEMPLATES WHICH WILL BE THE SAME METAL IONS OF INTEREST. REVERSIBLE COVALENT, IONIC OR HYDROGEN BONDS FORM BETWEEN THE TEMPLATE AND THE BINDING SITES OF THE POLYMER CHAIN. UPON POLYMERIZATION, THE TEMPLATE WILL PRODUCE CAVITIES SPECIFIC FOR SIZE, SHAPE AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE BINDING SITES. TO PRESERVE THE MEMORY EFFECTS OF THE POLYMER, THE TEMPLATE WILL BE SPLIT OFF WITHOUT ALTERING THE CAVITY. IN PHASE I, AN ALL SOLID STATE SENSOR WILL BE FABRICATED BY APPLYING MEMBRANES CONTAINING ION SELECTIVE IMPRINTED POLYMER ON CONDUCTING FILLED EPOXY LAYER OF AN ION ELECTRODE. THE SENSOR WILL BE TESTED AND CALIBRATED.