Analytische Chemie
Filtern
Dokumenttyp
- Vortrag (3)
Sprache
- Englisch (3)
Referierte Publikation
- nein (3) (entfernen)
Schlagworte
- Particles (3) (entfernen)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
Eingeladener Vortrag
- nein (3)
Microbial contamination of fuels by fungi or bacteria poses risks such as corrosion and fuel system fouling, which can lead to critical problems in refineries and distribution systems and has a significant economic impact at every stage of the process. Many factors have been cited as being responsible for microbial growth, like the presence of water in the storage tanks. In fact, only 1 % water in a storage system is sufficient for the growth of microorganisms like bacteria or yeasts, as well as for the development of fungal biomass at the oil/water interface.
This work presents a rapid test for the accurate determination of genomic DNA from aqueous fuel extracts. The detection is based on the use of polystyrene-mesoporous silica core-shell particles onto which modified fluorescent molecular beacons are covalently grafted. These beacons contain in the hairpin loop a target sequence highly conserved in all bacteria, corresponding to a fragment of the 16S ribosomal RNA subunit. The designed single-stranded molecular beacon contained fluorescein as an internal indicator and a quencher in its proximity when not hybridized. Upon hybridization in presence of the target sequence, the indicator and the quencher are spatially separated, resulting in fluorescence enhancement. To perform the assay the developed particles were deposited on different glass fibre strips to obtain a portable and sensitive rapid test. The assays showed that the presence of genomic DNA extracts from bacteria down to 50–70 μg L–1 induced a fluorescence response. The optical read-out was adapted for on-site monitoring by fitting a 3D-printed case to a conventional smartphone, taking advantages of the sensitivity of the CMOS detector. Such embedded assembly enabled the detection of genomic DNA in aqueous extracts down to the mg L–1 range and represents an interesting step toward on-site monitoring of fuel contamination.
Supramolecular chemistry, fluorescence detection, hybrid (nano)materials and device miniaturization are in themselves highly interesting areas of research, yet especially their combination paves the way to (bio)chemical analysis systems that show outstanding performance. The lecture gives an overview of the toolbox of single components developed in BAM’s Chemical and Optical Sensing Division over the years, and how their combination can result in powerful sensors, quick tests and assays. While at the core of a development is the analytical problem, that is, the determination of a certain analyte in a sample of interest with the required sensitivity and selectivity by a specific end user in a given setting, signaling mechanisms, recognition elements, signal transduction modes, materials functionalization, device design and system integration are adequately chosen, tailored and adapted. Examples including molecularly imprinted polymers, hybrid mesoporous nanomaterials, gated indicator release systems, microfluidic devices, test strips and smartphone-based analysis will be presented.