Developing low-drift pH monitoring technologies for high-value bioprocessing and pharmaceutical production

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The research questions include the design of an on-line non-invasive, stable, controllable sensor suitable for GMP (generic medicinal product) manufacturing, able to operate in fully aqueous media of the full pH range (1-14), extremes of salt and API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) concentrations, long shelf-life (2-4 weeks in service) and biocompatible with the materials used in the process. Furthermore, this sensor with universal properties is able to identify different buffers present in the process to assure quality control.The overall aim is to develop a pH and buffer identification sensor to be used in downstream processing of pharmaceuticals. The first year's goal is to design a pH sensor. To attain this, the following objectives must be fulfilled:- Materials and methods selection by conducting critical literature review, comparing what is currently available commercially and what is being developed in the academia and how this new sensor differs from the current ones and how it improves the sensing technologies,- Suitable transduction mechanism selection for easiest and fastest readouts of the results, suitable for rapid and remote sensing,- Testing the prototypes of sensors and improving their qualities to ensure the best result and the most sensitive/accurate/selective sensor possible.This project begins with a literature survey on available technologies and the novel sensing approach, using already existing immobilisation techniques and transduction approaches to achieve the required goal. The student will then conduct experimental work in the lab, starting on proof of concept of different sensing mechanisms and analysing the data received to improve the performance. After this, the student will conduct experiments in industry to record the compatibility of the designed device with the system.The novelty of this project is in the technology used to manufacture these sensors, as currently there is nothing in the market with high precision and sensitivity sensing possibilities, that have no drift and thus can be used for long time.