TY - CONF A1 - Bertin, Annabelle T1 - Controlled self-assembly of Janus dendrimers via microfluidics N2 - Vesicles self-assembled in water from natural and synthetic phospholipids (liposomes), amphiphilic block copolymers (polymersomes), and more recently amphiphilic Janus dendrimers (dendrimersomes) -5 as hollow soft structures in the nano size regime have attracted increasing interest as they can mimic primitive and contemporary biological membranes, and can be configured into biomimetic nanocapsules with application in nanomedicine such as gene, proteins and drug carriers or theranostics. Compared to other amphiphilic structures, the molecular structure of Janus dendrimers can be precisely controlled: by using the vast range of tools from organic chemistry their size, architecture, density, generation as well as the number of end groups of the individual dendrons can be modified as desired. Unfortunately, the controlled production of supramolecular aggregates made thereof is still a challenging task. Conventional batch-based techniques such as the solvent injection method or the film hydration method typically go along with a lack of control over self assembly/mixing and thus over size, morphology and size distribution of the vesicles. The micromixer technology is a promising method for the controlled preparation of supramolecular assemblies as it allows control of mixing at microscale level. In addition, such microfluidic systems benefit from a high mixing efficiency, a low mixing time as well as from a reproducible and continuous production of soft nanoparticles. Herein, we report on the microfluidic-controlled self-assembly of Janus dendrimers as dendrimersomes and the impact of the mixing parameters on the self-assembly process. T2 - Invited talk Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF) CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 08.03.2018 KW - Vesicles KW - Janus dendrimers KW - Microfluidics PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44441 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Design, characterization, and application of fluorescent sensor particles N2 - pH and oxygen are amongst the most important and frequently measured analytes in the life and material sciences, indicating, e.g., diseases and corrosion processes. This includes the optical monitoring of pH in living cells for studying cellular internalization pathways, such as phagocytosis, endocytosis, and receptor ligand internalization with the aid of molecular and nanoscale fluorescent sensors. Nanoparticle (NP)-based sensors, that are labeled or stained with a multitude of sensor dyes, have several advantages as compare to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, i.e., amplified signals, ease of designing ratiometric systems by combining analyte sensitive and inert reference dyes, and increased photostability. Moreover, this can enable the use of hydrophobic dyes in aqueous environments. Versatile templates and carriers for the fabrication of nanosensors by the staining and/or labelling with different fluorophores and sensor molecules or surface functionalized NP like silica (SiO2-NP) and polystyrene (PS-NP) particles provide. Here we present the design of a versatile platform of color emissive nanosensors and stimuli-responsive microparticles for the measurement of pH, oxygen, and other targets utilizing both types of matrices and sets of spectrally distinguishable sensor and reference dyes and their characterization and demonstrate the applicability of representative sensor particle for cellular studies. T2 - Vortrag bei dem Projekttreffen MicraGen CY - Copenhagen, Denmark DA - 18.08.2022 KW - Dye KW - Luminescence KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Photophysics KW - Quality assurance KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Standard KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy KW - Sensor KW - pH KW - Oxygen KW - Microfluidics KW - Cancer KW - Cell KW - Life sciences PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-57049 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bell, Jérémy T1 - Embedded sensor for the detection of TNT in surface and marine waters N2 - In 1945, the Potsdam Conference led to the decision to destroy a significant amount of ammunition from the warring parties of WWII. Dumping was considered the cheapest, quickest, and safest solution to dispose of unused ammunition. However, thin barrels or containers often leak after 50 years, allowing explosives to escape into the marine environment. As the effects of weapons chemicals on ecosystems are well-documented, it is becoming increasingly important to detect, recover and dispose of old ammunition. Physical techniques such as magnetometry and sonar are used to detect ammunition in the sea, but they do not provide chemical information. Detecting leaking organic contaminants like TNT or other explosives in water or soil requires high-end laboratory equipment like HPLC or GC-MS, making remote water testing virtually impossible. As an alternative, a miniaturized method for the selective and sensitive indication of TNT using fluorescence light-up sensing was developed. The visual identification of TNT with a nucleophile that forms a strongly absorbing charge transfer complex (CTC) is a well-known method. This CTC is formed by the attraction of an electron from the donor molecule by the electron-deficient aromatic ring. In this work, a TNT-based CTC was selectively formed by the addition of tetraoctylammonium acetate in N,N-diethylformamide and, as expected, showed strong absorption. Surprisingly, at room temperature, the CTC can be converted into a fluorescent product with an emission band centred at 577 nm. For the detection of TNT in water, a microfluidic chip made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is used for both the extraction and reaction steps. In addition to miniaturising the experimental steps, the optical system (fluorometer) has been integrated into an autonomous smartphone assembly capable of catalysing the photoreaction and analysing the fluorescence response. Taking advantage of the light-up response, TNT was still easily detectable down to 9.4 ng with the CMOS camera. Further evaluation of this analytical tool consisted of analyses of unfiltered and untreated surface water samples spiked directly with increasing concentrations of TNT to reflect different levels of contamination. LODs of 21 and 40 ng were found for samples from the Teltow Canal in Berlin (DEU) and the Baltic Sea near Greifswald (DEU). Such an analytical tool could be used to monitor water quality in the field, as the release of organic pollutants from munitions into surface and marine waters will become increasingly problematic and concentrations will continue to rise over the coming decades. T2 - ANAKON 2025 CY - Leipzig, Germany DA - 10.03.2025 KW - Explosives KW - Microfluidics KW - Smartphone KW - Sprengstoffe KW - Mikrofluidik KW - Sensor PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62767 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schneider, Rudolf T1 - How can antibodies help us in the risk assessment of pharmaceuticals in the environment? N2 - The widespread use of pharmaceuticals has led to their persistent presence in various environmental compartments, raising concerns about ecological and human health risks since they pose a significant threat to non-target organisms and human health, necessitating robust methods for environmental risk assessment.   Traditional analytical methods, such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), offer high sensitivity and specificity but are often resource-intensive, require complex sample preparation, limiting their applicability for large-scale or real-time monitoring. In this context, antibody-based analytical techniques present a promising complementary approach for the detection and quantification of pharmaceutical residues in environmental matrices.   Antibodies, due to their high specificity and affinity, enable the development of immunoassays such as ELISA, lateral flow assays, fluorescence-based formats, and electrochemical sensors that are rapid, cost-effective, and adaptable to field conditions. These methods can be tailored to target a wide range of pharmaceutical compounds, including antibiotics and endocrine disruptors. Moreover, antibody-based assays facilitate high-throughput screening and can be integrated into portable platforms for on-site analysis, thereby enhancing temporal and spatial resolution in environmental monitoring.   This presentation explores the potential of antibodies in environmental risk assessment, focusing on their application in detecting trace levels of pharmaceuticals in water, soil, and biota. They are presented as a complementary and powerful tool for rapid, cost-effective screening in the lab and that also can be deployed for on-site analysis in the field.   The talk also discusses recent advances in antibody engineering, multiplexing capabilities [1], and the integration of immunoassays with sensor technologies [2].   Case studies illustrate how immunoanalytical data can help in finding potential contamination hotspots [3], hazard identification, pollution source tracking, and the generation of crucial data for predictive models on environmental fate and effects. Antibody-based methods can also help in early warning systems and the evaluation of mitigation strategies, contributing to a more comprehensive and proactive risk assessment framework, eventually to regulatory decision-making, ultimately aiding in the protection of ecosystems and public health. T2 - ICRAPHE - 6th International Conference on Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment CY - Aveiro, Portugal DA - 20.10.2025 KW - Antibodies KW - Immunoassay KW - Microfluidics KW - Electrochemical detection KW - Biosensor PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64922 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Yijuan A1 - Pérez-Padilla, Víctor A1 - Valderrey, Virginia A1 - Bell, Jérémy A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Ratiometric detection of perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids using dual fluorescent nanoparticles and a miniaturised microfluidic platform N2 - The widespread contamination of soil and water with perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has caused considerable societal and scientific concern. Legislative measures and an increased need for remediation require effective on-site analytical methods for PFAS management. Here we report on the development of a green-fluorescent guanidine-BODIPY indicator monomer incorporated into a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the selective detection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Complexation of PFOA by the indicator, which is mediated by concerted protonation-induced ion pairing-assisted hydrogen bonding, significantly enhances fluorescence in polar organic solvents. The MIP forms as a thin layer on silica nanoparticles doped with tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) chloride, which provides an orange emission signal as internal reference, resulting in low measurement uncertainties. Using a liquid-liquid extraction protocol, this assay enables the direct detection of PFOA in environmental water samples and achieves a detection limit of 0.11 µM. Integration into an opto-microfluidic system enables a compact and user-friendly system for detecting PFOA in less than 15 minutes. KW - PFAS KW - Molecular imprinting KW - Microfluidics KW - Fluorescence KW - Onsite assay PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-650270 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66872-9 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 16 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-65027 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia T1 - Using Dual Fluorescent Molecularly Imprinted Particles Coupled with a Miniaturized Opto-Microfluidic Platform for On-Site Detection of Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylic Acids N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemicals widely used in the production of various materials, including firefighting foams, adhesives, and coatings that resist stains and oil. In recent years, PFAS have gained attention as emerging environmental contaminants, with particular emphasis on perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), the most common type of PFAS. PFCAs are defined by a fully fluorinated carbon chain and a charged carboxylic acid group. They have been classified as Substances of Very High Concern and included in the REACH Candidate List due to their persistence, resistance to biodegradation, and toxicological impacts. Traditional methods for analyzing PFCAs, like GC-MS, HRMS, and HPLC-based techniques, are time-consuming, non-portable, expensive, and require specialized expertise. On the other hand, fluorescence assays offer a user-friendly, portable, and cost-effective alternative with high sensitivity and quick results, particularly when the binding of the analyte causes a specific increase in the probe’s fluorescence. Combining these probes with a carrier platform and a miniaturized optofluidic device presents a promising approach for PFCA monitoring. In this study, a new guanidine BODIPY fluorescent indicator monomer was synthesized, characterized, and incorporated into a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) designed for the specific detection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The MIP layer was formed on silica core nanoparticles doped with tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) chloride, serving as an optical internal reference for calibration-free assays. In combination with an extraction step prior to sample analysis, this system enables selective and reliable detection of PFCAs in surface water samples, minimizing interference from competing substances, matrix effects, and other factors. When integrated into an opto-microfluidic setup, the assay provided a compact, user-friendly detection system capable of detecting micromolar levels of PFOA in under 15 minutes from surface water samples. T2 - ANAKON2025 CY - Leipzig, Germany DA - 10.03.2025 KW - Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) KW - On-site detection KW - Fluorescence KW - Microfluidics KW - Molecularly Imprinted Polymers PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62712 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fidan, Z. A1 - Wende, A. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Visible and red emissive molecular beacons for optical temperature measurements and quality control in diagnostic assays utilizing temperature-dependent amplification reactions N2 - Quality control requirements imposed on assays used in clinical diagnostics and point-of-care-diagnostic testing (POCT), utilizing amplification reactions performed at elevated temperatures of 35 to 95 °C are very stringent. As the temperature of a reaction vessel has a large impact on the specificity and sensitivity of the amplification reaction, simple tools for local in situ temperature sensing and monitoring are required for reaction and assay control. We describe here a platform of stem-and-loop structured DNA hairpins (molecular beacons, MBs), absorbing and emitting in the visible and red spectral region, rationally designed for precise temperature measurements in microfluidic assays for POCT, and their ap-plication for temperature measurements in a common DNA-based molecular biological assay utilizing thermophilic helicase-dependent amplification (tHDA). Spectroscopic studies of these MBs, rationally designed from DNA se-quences of different thermal stabilities, chosen not to interact with the DNA probes applied in the nucleic acid amplification assay, and temperature-dependent fluorescence measurements of MB-assay mixtures revealed the suitability of these MBs for temperature measurements directly in such an assay with a temperature resolution of about 0.5 °C without interferences from assay components. Combining two spectrally distinguishable MBs provides a broader response range and an increase in temperature sensitivity up to 0.1 °C. This approach will find future application for temperature monitoring and quality control in commercialized diagnostics assays using dried reagents and microfluidic chips as well as assays read out with tube and microplate readers and PCR detection systems for temperature measurements in the range of 35 to 95 °C. KW - Miniaturization KW - Fluorescence KW - Temperature KW - Sensor KW - Assay KW - Microfluidics KW - DNA KW - Dye KW - Molecular beacon KW - Molecular diagnostics PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-0088-6 SN - 1618-2642 VL - 409 IS - 6 SP - 1519 EP - 1529 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-39589 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -