Understanding and Manipulating Interactions of Molecules and Paper Surfaces Focusing on the Development of Low-Cost Tools for Preserving and Monitoring Water Quality

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Imagine having a strip of paper that when dipped in water indicates if it is safe for drinking. Paper sensors are important in developed countries (such as Canada), but critical in the Developing World. This Grant will help us answer some scientific questions bringing us closer to having paper strips deployed in the field. To this end, we established three main objectives for the next five years: 1. Creation of bioinks that can be inkjet printed into paper. They are made using three components: (1) a particle to keeps the ink within the paper fibers, (2) a linker extending from the particle that "senses" the presence of the target. The linker is connected to an (3) enzyme that serves as a beacon. If the target is present, the linker is disassembled and the enzyme is released, moving to a zone of the paper strip where its presence is revealed through a change of color in the paper. 2. Paper is highly porous and molecules, such as the enzyme from the bioink, can become "stuck" on the paper and not move at all. We will borrow strategies used in the biomedical field to modify the surface of paper to prevent non-specific binding to paper, allowing free movement of molecules in the paper. 3. The third objective of this work is to modify paper surfaces to allow specific molecules to be removed from contaminated water. We will use high-throughput methods, similar to those employed by the pharmaceutical industry to discover new drugs, to identify what these modifications need to be. Such low cost, specific adsorbing papers can be used to clean water in remote locations.