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

该计划的目标是使人们能够快速测量自己的水的安全性。这项研究旨在开发负担得起的可现场部署的传感器。及时的测试结果将对当地和全球的低资源社区产生最大的影响。使人们能够普遍获得安全饮用水是加拿大研究面临的一项严峻挑战。饮用水被微量无机物污染是一项技术和人道主义挑战，影响着数亿人。地下水中自然产生的砷和氟化物总共影响了全球3.5亿人。矿山废水(例如，波利山尾矿决口，以及萨斯喀彻温省的贡纳铀矿和西北部的巨人矿等遗留矿场的金属排放)导致地表水污染。虽然存在各种技术来去除饮用水中的这些微量污染物，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差距，这对公共健康造成了毁灭性的长期后果。为了应对这一挑战，两个研究流将基于当前最先进的化学和技术从不同的开发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型、选择性氟化物发色团，在不需要液体试剂的情况下检测低浓度(1ppm)的氟；2)开发和表面附着新型无汞、无砷、选择性、光响应/荧光的砷发色团。我们将采用分子方法来检测关键的水污染物。该项目的创新之处在于取代了现有的不切实际的氟化物传感系统，并设计了选择性结合和传感砷的分子设计。使用光纤作为低成本的传感器接口将允许对水质进行实时监测。在偏远和低资源地区进行实地部署的伙伴关系将扩大这项工作的范围，这将为我们的研究小组和更广泛的水处理社区有针对性地制定处理战略和技术提供信息。总体而言，该项目将为加拿大系统的初出茅庐的研究人员提供一个独特的跨学科环境，培训具备应对21世纪复杂工程、化学和公共卫生挑战的技术领导者。与土木工程师、绿色化学家、毒物学家、公共卫生专家、社区和行业利益攸关方的合作将提供工具，以满足向所有人提供安全、可靠饮用水的全球迫切需要。

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.