Enhancing the Performance and Applications of Sol-Gel Derived Materials via Template Based Strategies

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Professor Maryanne Collinson of Kansas State University is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry program to investigate templating silicate thin films. The PI has detected specific molecules by first using them as a template in a sol gel on an electrode. The molecule is removed, leaving a negative image of the species. On exposure to a solution of the molecule, the electrochemical responses is enhanced over the response to other similarly shaped species. In the present work, this team is using bacteria as the template species to make a bacteria-specific surface. The bacteria will yield rods and corkscrew shaped pores. In addition to use as biosensors, the cavities also may serve as microreactors and templates to form metal and oxide nanoparticles. In another part of the project, the molecule-templated films are being developed as electrochemical luminescent sensors, for example for glucose. Titanium dioxide is being investigated as a sol gel matrix. The anticipated applications of these materials include new nanostructured materials and chemical sensors. The ability to create microcompartments in materials will be useful as microreactors and micro-reservoirs of chemicals that can be used as needed, for example, in drug delivery. As methods become more sophisticated through fundamental projects such as this, it is possible that we will have hierarchically ordered porous materials for applications such as pharmacy and biosensing. The work connects chemistry, microbiology, materials science and engineering. The majority of the PI's students come from groups that are under-represented in the sciences, so, if this trend continues, the research will help society by increasing diversity in the scientific workforce.