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The use of macromolecules and materials immobilized in the detection zone of test strips for indicator capture and focusing in label-free lateral flow assays (LFAs) is described, with emphasis on its future use in low number multiplexing. Several materials such as polyelectrolytes, functionalized mesoporous silica micro- and nanoparticles, chemically modified cellulose or glass fibre (GF) membranes and molecularly imprinted polymer gels coated onto membranes were studied in model assays, before the most promising materials were combined with antibody-gated indicator delivering (gAID) sensor materials. Cellulose, nitrocellulose and GF membranes were used as supports and highly fluorescent dyes of different charge states as model indicators. Combination of the best performing capture materials with gAID systems made it possible to distinctly increase the sensitivity and reduce the measurement uncertainty in the LFA testing of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) in aqueous samples. In addition, dual-plexing of PETN and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was realized on a single test strip containing two dedicated capture zones.
Integrating fluorescent probes with sensing matrices presents a major challenge because usually, when confined in a rather rigid matrix, fluorophores tend to behave completely different than for instance in the molecular state in solution. The lecture reviews the major strategies that have been devised recently to circumvent such issues with special focus on the works carried out in this field by BAM’s Chemical and Optical Sensing Division. Moreover, it will be shown that by using certain strategies not only can the response behavior be retained but synergistic effects can even endow the hybrid with a much better performance than the probe molecule alone.
Molecularly Imprinted Polymers with Integrated Fluorescence as Versatile Biomimetic Sensing Matrices
(2018)
Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are an established, versatile and high-performance matrix for the selective separation or enrichment of (bio)chemical species, especially small molecules of biochemical or environmental relevance. MIPs are prepared through the polymerization of a mixture of functional monomers and cross-linkers in the presence of the template with subsequent extraction of the latter. Conceptionally, this process can be seen as mimicking in a strongly accelerated, though single-step manner a biological process such as antibody formation. Because the resulting MIPs contain cavities in their matrix that are complementary in size, shape and electronic/ electrostatic or hydrogen bonding demand to the imprinted target molecule or template, these polymers are frequently termed “artificial antibodies”. Compared to natural antibodies, they are chemically and physically much more robust. Regarding sensitivity and selectivity, however, there is still a gap to bridge before MIPs can fully compete with antibodies.
Another favorable aspect that distinguishes MIPs from antibodies is that they can be endowed with an explicit function, allowing the use of MIPs in applications that require more than only an efficient binder. For instance, if specifically designed and polymerizable fluorescent indicators are integrated as functional monomers into a MIP, direct fluorescence sensing can be accomplished. Because MIPs can be prepared in a variety of different formats, their combination with miniaturized or other specific analytical techniques or sensory devices is possible, especially when the transduction mode is light. This presentation will introduce basic design considerations, challenges, limitations and the potential that lies with such sensor materials with some recent examples of our group, targeting various organic oxoanions as analytes.
PFAS Sensors
(2023)
This contribution provides an introduction to the development of sensors for PFAS analysis, presents the most common approaches, and describes the opto-microfluidic strategy in combination with polymerizable indicators and detection matrices currently being pursued by the Chemical and Optical Sensing Division at BAM.