Molecular Sensors Supported by Optical Fibres: Empowering Communities Through Rapid, Low-Cost Drinking Water Testing

这个项目的目标是让人们能够快速测量自己用水的安全性。该研究旨在开发可负担得起的现场部署传感器。及时的测试结果将对当地和全球资源匮乏的社区产生最大的影响。使人人都能获得安全饮用水是加拿大研究面临的一项重大挑战。微量无机物污染饮用水是一项影响数亿人的技术和人道主义挑战。地下水中自然存在的砷和氟化物影响着全球3.5亿人。矿山废水（如波利山尾矿口）和传统矿区（如萨斯喀彻温省的贡纳尔铀矿和西北地区的巨人矿）释放的金属导致地表水污染。虽然有多种技术可以从饮用水中去除这些微量污染物，但由于缺乏低成本的现场测量技术，许多社区在水质方面存在信息缺口，这对公共卫生造成了破坏性的长期后果。为了应对这一挑战，将根据当前最先进的化学和技术，从不同的发展阶段开始，开发针对这些主要污染物的传感器：1)利用光纤传感器上的表面附着的氟化物选择性发色团，在不需要液体试剂的情况下检测低浓度（1ppm）的氟化物；2)新型无汞、无砷、选择性、光响应/荧光砷发色团的研制与表面附着。我们将采取分子方法来检测关键的水污染物。该方案的新颖之处在于替代现有的不切实际的氟化物传感系统和分子设计的选择性结合和砷传感。使用光纤作为低成本的传感器接口可以实现对水质的实时监测。该总干事的工作将通过在偏远和资源匮乏地区进行实地部署的伙伴关系得到扩展，这将为我们的研究小组和更广泛的水处理界有针对性地制定处理战略和技术提供信息。总体而言，该计划将为加拿大系统中崭露头角的研究人员提供一个独特的跨学科环境，培养技术领导者，以应对21世纪复杂的工程、化学和公共卫生挑战。与土木工程师、绿色化学家、毒理学家、公共卫生专家、社区和行业利益攸关方的合作，将为解决向所有人提供安全可靠的饮用水这一全球当务之急提供工具。

The goal of this program is to empower people to quickly measure the safety of their own water. The research aims to develop affordable field-deployable sensors. Timely test results will have the greatest impact on low resource communities locally and globally. Empowering universal access to safe drinking water is a critical challenge for Canadian research. Contamination of drinking water by trace inorganics is a technical and humanitarian challenge impacting hundreds of millions of people. Naturally-occurring arsenic and fluoride in groundwater impact a combined 350 million people globally. Releases of metals from mine effluent (e.g. the Mount Polley Tailings Breach, and from legacy mining sites, such as the Gunnar Uranium Mine in Saskatchewan and the Giant Mine in NWT) lead to surface water contamination. While diverse technologies exist to remove these trace contaminants from drinking water, many communities suffer from an information gap around water quality due to a lack of low-cost field measurement technologies, with devastating long-term public health consequences. To tackle this challenge, two streams of research will develop sensors for these major contaminants, starting at different stages of development based on the current state-of-the-art in chemistry and technology: 1)Exploiting surface-attached, fluoride-selective chromophores on optical fibre sensors to detect fluoride at low (1 ppm) concentrations without the need for liquid reagents; 2)Development and surface-attachment of new mercury-free, arsine-free, selective, photoresponsive/fluorescent chromophores for arsenic. We will take a molecular approach to the detection of critical water contaminants. The novelty of this program lies in the replacement of existing impractical fluoride sensing systems and molecular design for selective binding and sensing of arsenic. Using optical fibres as low-cost sensor interfaces will allow real-time monitoring of water quality. The work under this DG will be extended by partnerships for field deployment in remote and low-resource contexts, which will inform targeted development of treatment strategies and technologies both in our research group and the broader water treatment community. Overall, this program will provide a unique, interdisciplinary environment for budding researchers in the Canadian system, training technical leaders equipped to tackle the complex engineering, chemical, and public health challenges of the 21st century. Collaborations with civil engineers, green chemists, toxicologists, public health experts, community and industry stakeholders will provide the tools to address the global imperative of providing safe, secure drinking water to all people.