CAREER: In-situ Determination of Pesticides and Other Environmental Pollutants with a Fiber Optic, Surface Resonance Based Sensor

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This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, focusses on the development and characterization of novel fiber-optic sensors for the determination of part-per-billion concentrations of pesticides in real environmental samples. Professor Booksh and his students at Arizona State University will develop a variety of such sensors including antibody immobilized devices that utilize attenuated total reflectance of their surface plasmon resonance signals in order to achieve selectivity and sensitivity. The probe geometry will be optimized for this application and multivariate calibration algorithms will be used to improve data quality when system parameters vary. This CAREER research project will also expose students at the undergraduate and graduate levels to the power of multivariate methods when analytical measurements involve complex real world samples. Professor Booksh will also mentor disabled students interested in scientific careers. The determination of the concentrations of pesticides in the environment is an important health problem that is highly complex due to the variability of real world sample composition. Professor Booksh and his students at Arizona State University will develop fiber-optic sensors based on antibody/antigen reactions that produce analytical signals that can be reliably interpreted over time. This CAREER project will provide students with a stimulating research experience in an area of immense societal importance. The extreme sensitivity and selectivity of antibody/antigen reactions coupled with fiber-optic sensor probes will be exploited using attenuated total reflectance of surface plasmon resonance signals that follow these reactions. In addition to the pedagogical value of teaching students useful applications of this chemistry Professor Booksh will mentor disabled students interested in scientific careers.