STTR Phase I: Rational design of highly sensitive and selective chemical sensors using structural color

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是开发嵌入传感器的“智能”饮具（即，搅拌器、吸管和杯子），以便在消费“掺药”饮料之前主动提醒消费者，从而提供一种预防药物促成的性侵犯的主动方式。 这种传感器技术基于“智能”分子印迹变色纳米材料，消除了使用传统实验室仪器运行繁琐的样品制备和分析程序的需要。 比色传感器作为具有成本效益的消费者传感器的使用具有比仅仅约会强奸药物检测更广泛的应用，包括现场检测可以帮助保护消费者免受其他有害化学品、病原体、药物、爆炸物、神经毒剂、过敏原等的应用。该项目将利用结构色的比色传感技术发展成为一个强大和快速的高灵敏度药物监测传感平台，该STTR第一阶段项目提出开发一种基于高度准确的变色传感器的平台技术，该传感器最初将用于连续监测饮料中的约会强奸药物，并在存在这些掺假物时立即检测出它们。毒品促成的性侵犯已成为一个重要问题，但目前市场上还没有毒品感应饮具。这种药物传感器将使用高选择性的分子印迹聚合物作为目标药物受体和无毒的变色纳米材料作为信号报告。研究范围包括合理设计变色纳米材料作为靶向药物结合事件的信号报告分子，开发高选择性分子印迹聚合物及其与报告分子的整合，以及在不同基质和条件下测试变色传感器以验证其灵敏度和特异性。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project will be the development of sensor-embedded "smart" drinkware (i.e., stirrers, straws and cups) to actively alert consumers prior to consumption of a "spiked" beverage, and thus provide a proactive way to prevent drug-facilitated sexual assault. This sensor technology is based on "smart" molecularly imprinted color-changing nanomaterials that eliminate the need to run tedious sample preparation and analysis procedures using conventional laboratory instrument. The use of a colorimetric sensor as a cost-effective consumer sensor has far broader applications than just date rape drug detection, including applications where on-the-spot detection could help protect consumers from other harmful chemicals, pathogens, drugs, explosives, nerve agents, allergens, etc. In addition, this project will advance colorimetric sensing technology using structural color into a robust and rapid sensing platform for drug monitoring with high sensitivity, response time, and accuracy.This STTR Phase I project proposes to develop a platform technology based on a highly accurate, color-changing sensor that will initially be used to continuously monitor a beverage for date rape drugs, and instantaneously detect these adulterants if they are present. Drug-facilitated sexual assault has become a significant issue, but there is currently no drug-sensing drinkware available on the market. This drug sensor will be implemented using highly selective molecular imprinted polymers as target drug receptors and non-toxic color-changing nanomaterials as signaling reporters. The scope of the research includes the rational design of the color-changing nanomaterial used as a signaling reporter for the target drug binding event, the development of a highly selective molecularly imprinted polymer and its integration with reporters, and the testing of the color-changing sensor under different matrices and conditions to verify its sensitivity and specificity.