Design of Advanced Sensing Materials

该奖项授予乔治亚理工学院的Jiri Janata和Miroslawa Josowicz教授，由化学学部的分析和表面化学项目提供支持。聚苯胺和密切相关的聚（苯基硫代苯胺）将用非水酸和/或金属团簇进行修饰，以精细地调整这些导电聚合物的电子功函数。这样，由这些聚合物制成的气体传感器对特定气体分子具有更高的灵敏度和选择性。为了使传感器性能更可预测，提出了一种相互作用的供能量尺度，将气体/聚合物相互作用与聚合物功函数联系起来。此外，利用电化学分子印迹技术探索传感器的制造方法。化学传感阵列可以由导电聚合物的基质制备。然而，灵敏度、选择性、稳健性和与固态制造工艺的兼容性仍然是未解决的问题。在这项工作中，调整聚合物基质选择性的基本方法将与新的制造策略一起探索。

This award to Professors Jiri Janata and Miroslawa Josowicz of the Georgia Institute of Technology is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program in the Chemistry Division. Polyanaline and the closely related poly(phenylene sulfidephenyleneamine) are to be modified with non-aqeuous acids and/or metal clusters in an effort to finely adjust the electronic work functions of these electrically conducting polymers. In this way, gas sensors made from these polymers are to have greater sensitivity and selectivity to specific gas molecules. A donacity scale of interactions is proposed to correlate gas/polymer interactions with the polymer work function, with the goal of more predictable sensor performance. In addition, sensor fabrication methods are to be explored with a electrochemical molecular imprinting technique.Chemical sensing arrays can be prepared from a matrix of electrically conducting polymers. However, sensitivity, selectivity, robustness, and compatibility with solid-state fabrication processes remain as unresolved issues. In this work, fundamental methods for tuning the selectivity of a polymer matrix will be explored along with a new strategy for fabrication.