Enhancing the Performance and Applications of Sol-Gel Derived Materials via Template Based Strategies

堪萨斯州立大学的Maryanne Collinson教授在分析和表面化学项目的支持下研究了模板硅酸盐薄膜。PI首先在电极上的溶胶凝胶中使用它们作为模板来检测特定分子。分子被移除，留下物种的负面形象。在暴露于分子溶液时，电化学反应比对其他类似形状的物质的反应增强。在目前的工作中，该团队正在使用细菌作为模板物种来制作细菌特异性表面。细菌会产生棒状和螺旋状的气孔。除了用作生物传感器外，这些空腔还可以用作微反应器和模板，以形成金属和氧化物纳米颗粒。在该项目的另一部分，分子模板化薄膜被开发为电化学发光传感器，例如葡萄糖。二氧化钛作为溶胶-凝胶基质正在被研究。这些材料的预期应用包括新型纳米结构材料和化学传感器。在材料中创建微室的能力将有助于作为微反应器和化学品的微储存器，可以根据需要使用，例如在药物输送中。随着方法通过诸如此类的基础项目变得更加复杂，我们有可能拥有用于制药和生物传感等应用的分层有序多孔材料。这项工作将化学、微生物学、材料科学和工程学联系起来。PI的大多数学生来自科学领域代表性不足的群体，因此，如果这种趋势继续下去，这项研究将通过增加科学劳动力的多样性来帮助社会。

Professor Maryanne Collinson of Kansas State University is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry program to investigate templating silicate thin films. The PI has detected specific molecules by first using them as a template in a sol gel on an electrode. The molecule is removed, leaving a negative image of the species. On exposure to a solution of the molecule, the electrochemical responses is enhanced over the response to other similarly shaped species. In the present work, this team is using bacteria as the template species to make a bacteria-specific surface. The bacteria will yield rods and corkscrew shaped pores. In addition to use as biosensors, the cavities also may serve as microreactors and templates to form metal and oxide nanoparticles. In another part of the project, the molecule-templated films are being developed as electrochemical luminescent sensors, for example for glucose. Titanium dioxide is being investigated as a sol gel matrix. The anticipated applications of these materials include new nanostructured materials and chemical sensors. The ability to create microcompartments in materials will be useful as microreactors and micro-reservoirs of chemicals that can be used as needed, for example, in drug delivery. As methods become more sophisticated through fundamental projects such as this, it is possible that we will have hierarchically ordered porous materials for applications such as pharmacy and biosensing. The work connects chemistry, microbiology, materials science and engineering. The majority of the PI's students come from groups that are under-represented in the sciences, so, if this trend continues, the research will help society by increasing diversity in the scientific workforce.