Chemical Sensors Based on Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA

Investigators

Abstract

0097409 Tepper This research focuses on the development of a new miniature sensing technology based on chemically sensitive and highly selective polymer nanoparticles interfaced with a microfabricated transduction device. The particles are produced using a unique combination of supercritical fluid polymer processing, UV curing and molecular imprinting and consist of highly networked, monodisperse polymer nanoparticles imprinted for high selectivity to a specific molecular species. The main objective of the proposed research project is to develop and demonstrate the performance parameters of the proposed sensor. This will be accomplished by developing a prototype and experimentally verifying key performance criteria including chemical sensitivity, selectivity, response time and reversibility. If successful, the proposed sensor would provide an unsurpassed level of performance in a field portable instrument. Applications of the proposed sensor technology include environmental characterization, medical diagnostics, process control, intelligent appliances, and military surveillance. Additional applications for the imprinted polymer nanoparticles include chromotography, specialty separations and filtering. ***