Molecularly selective sensors based on organic semiconductors and artificial receptors: demonstrations and scaling studies

将开发适用于可穿戴设备的强大传感技术，用于连续监测人体分泌的分子。电活性聚合物将与分子选择性聚合物结合，以敏感和选择性的方式感知一系列分子。传感器制造过程将利用与制造微处理器相同的技术，从而获得广泛的传感器尺寸和形状，以确定最佳的传感器几何形状。此外，传感器的电响应将被数学建模，以预测最佳的传感器设计。最后，几个传感器将被排列以演示同时检测几个感兴趣的分子。基于塑料的通用传感技术的发展有可能在适合非医院应用的低成本可穿戴传感器领域产生重大影响。此外，用这些资金培训的劳动力将具有跨学科的前景，对电子和分析化学领域的生物医学应用同样熟悉。基于酶的传感对于可穿戴设备或非受控环境中的测量并不可靠。提出了一种新的转导方法，将有机电化学晶体管（OECT）与结合在膜中的鲁棒分子印迹聚合物（MIP）功能化。MIP作为一种人工受体，在制造阶段选择性地与分子结合。这是一种全新的传感器装置概念，它结合了选择性（来自薄膜）和灵敏度（得益于晶体管的增益）。这种方法适用于皮质醇传感器，它与可穿戴电子产品兼容，因为它很敏感（得益于晶体管的电子增益），在低电压下工作，并且可以在柔性基板上制造。器件缩放研究将证明灵敏度和范围可以用器件几何形状来控制。研究了不同处理工艺对膜的选择性和灵敏度的影响。最终，这些实验数据将用于构建和验证完整的设备模型，这将深入了解传感器的设备物理特性，并将用于具有任意架构的传感器的先验设计。由于OECT和人工受体膜的概念是通用的，该模型将成为整个新型传感器家族的有用设计工具。最后，mip功能化方法非常普遍，将通过构建一个多路传感器阵列来证明，该阵列将在单个样品中检测两种激素（皮质醇和肾上腺素）以及其他电解质。一名高中教师将参与该项目，目的是利用所调查的材料制造一个“可见的”建筑。晶体管，即可以用肉眼看到开关过程的器件。其目的是为高中生提供一个简单的演示，帮助他们了解这款处于IT革命核心的设备的基本功能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A robust sensing technology, suitable for wearable devices, will be developed for continuous monitoring of molecules secreted by the human body. Electrically active polymers will be combined with molecularly selective polymers to sense a range of molecules in a sensitive and selective way. The sensor fabrication process will take advantage of the same technology developed to fabricate microprocessors, thus giving access to a wide range of sensor sizes and shapes in order to determine the optimum sensor geometry. Furthermore, the electrical response of the sensor will be modeled mathematically in order to predict the best sensor design. Finally, several sensors will be arrayed to demonstrate the simultaneous detection of several molecules of interest. The development of a general sensing technology based on plastics has the potential to produce a substantial impact in the world of low-cost wearable sensors suitable for non-hospital based applications. Furthermore, the workforce trained with these funds will have an interdisciplinary outlook, being equally comfortable with electronics and with biomedical applications in the realm of analytical chemistry.Enzyme-based sensing is not robust for wearables or measurements in non-controlled environments. A new transduction method is proposed where an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) is functionalized with a robust molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) incorporated in a membrane. The MIP acts as an artificial receptor and selectively binds to the molecule that was imprinted in it during the fabrication phase. This is an entirely new sensor device concept, which incorporates selectivity (from the membrane) and sensitivity (thanks to the gain given by the transistor). This approach works in a cortisol sensor, which is compatible with wearable electronics as it is sensitive (thanks to the electronic gain of the transistor), operates at low voltages and can be fabricated on flexible substrates. Device scaling studies will demonstrate that sensitivity and range can be controlled with device geometry. The effect of processing on the selectivity and sensitivity of the membrane will be studied as well. Ultimately these experimental data will be used to build and validate a complete device model, which will give insights into the device physics of the sensor and will be used for a priori design of sensors with arbitrary architectures. Because the concept of OECT and artificial receptor membranes is general, the model will be a useful design tool for this entire family of novel sensors.Finally, the MIP-functionalization approach is quite general as will be demonstrated by building a multiplexed sensor array that will sense two hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) in addition to other electrolytes in a single sample. A high-school teacher will be involved in the project with the goal of using the materials investigated to fabricate a ?visible? transistor, i.e. a device where the switching process can be viewed by naked eye. The goal is to provide a simple demonstration for high-school students helping them understand the basic functionality of the device that is at the heart of the IT revolution.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.