EAPSI: Development of a Vitamin C Sensor: Anchoring Aqueous Polymers to Glass Substrates

测量血液中维生素C的含量是困难的，因为血液的性质、总成本、时间和涉及的仪器都很复杂。该奖项支持合成聚合物传感网络并将其固定在镀金玻璃片表面的研究，形成一种可行的化学传感器，用于测试体液中维生素C的水平。这种传感器阵列将是一种可重现且普遍稳定的分析工具，能够进行许多其他测量：分析体液、测试水的清洁度，以及即时监测体内的药物水平。这些类型的拟议传感器的开发可以使医学界和发展中国家的护理点测量成为可能。这项研究将与台北国立台湾大学的廖维思教授合作进行。聚合物传感器是由水分子印迹聚合物(MIP)网络形成的。与大多数MIP不同的是，由于高水平的刚性共价键而形成聚合物颗粒，我们的MIP是液态的，因为它利用较少的刚性非共价键来形成其传感网络。除了能够与所需的分子(维生素C)结合外，这种分子印迹聚合物在网络中还有一个荧光反应单体单元。这允许视觉？开/关？对所需分子的感应。这种网络是使用活性聚合技术合成的，从而允许聚合物溶液具有官能化的端基，这些端基可以被还原以结合到任何金表面。MIP传感器具有快速结合和高选择性的能力，当固定在基板上时，它将创建一个传感器阵列，用于轻松准确地检测维生素C。该奖项由东亚和太平洋夏季研究所项目资助一名美国研究生的夏季研究，由美国国家科学基金会和台湾科技部共同资助。

Measuring the amount of vitamin C present in blood is difficult because of the complex nature of blood, overall cost, amount of time, and instrumentation involved. The award supports research to synthesize a polymer sensing network and anchor it to the surface of a gold coated glass slide, forming a viable chemical sensor for testing levels of vitamin C in bodily fluids. This sensor array will be a reproducible and universally stable analytical tool that is capable of numerous other measurements: the analysis of bodily fluids, testing the cleanliness of water, and instantaneous monitoring of drug levels within the body. The development of these types of proposed sensors could enable point of care measurements for the medical community and the developing world. The research will be conducted in collaboration with Professor Wei-Ssu Liao of National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan.The polymer sensor is formed by an aqueous molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) network. Unlike most MIPs, which form polymer particles due to the high levels of rigid covalent bonds, our MIP is in liquid form because it utilizes less rigid non-covalent bonds to form its sensing network. In addition to being able to bind to the desired molecule (vitamin C), this MIP has a fluorescence response monomer unit within the network. This allows for a visual ?on/off? sensing of the desired molecule. This network is synthesized using a living polymerization technique, thus allowing the polymer solution to have functionalized end groups that can be reduced to bind to any gold surface. The MIP sensor is capable of rapid binding and high selectivity, and when anchored onto a substrate it will create a sensor array for easy and accurate detection of vitamin C. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan.