SBIR Phase I: Dye-Loaded Mesoporous Material for the Amplified Fluorescence-Quenching Detection of Metal Ions

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一期项目将探索一种提高荧光金属离子传感灵敏度的系统。它将使用一种新型介孔材料，通过经历荧光强度的急剧下降来响应某些金属离子的存在。这将能够在饮用水、危险废物场地和工业废物流中检测微量有毒或其他有问题的金属离子。然后，该传感系统可以集成到聚合物基质中的测试条格式中，从而提供可批量生产且具有成本效益的一次性痕量金属传感器。这些传感器可以广泛使用，从而可以提高家庭、工作场所和环境中有关金属存在的信息量。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase Iproject will explore a system for improving the sensitivity of fluorescence-based metal-ion sensing. It will use a novel mesoporous material that responds to the presence of certain metal ions by undergoing a precipitous drop in fluorescence intensity. This will enable the detection of trace amounts of toxic or otherwise problematical metal ions in e.g. drinking water, hazardous waste sites, and industrial waste streams. This sensing system can then be incorporated into a test strip-like format in a polymer matrix to give a mass-producible and hence cost-effective, single-use trace metal sensor. These sensors can be made widely available and thereby can improve the amount of information on the presence of metals of concern in the home, workplace, and environment.