CAREER: Development of Polymerizable Diacetylene Surfactant Monomers for Two-Dimensional Imprinting and Sensors

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

The Advanced Materials Program in the Division of Chemistry makes this award to Louisianan State University. With this Career award, Professor David Spivak will design, synthesize, process and characterize polymer monolayers with imprinted recognition and transduction sites. Surfactant diacetylene monomers with different head groups will be ordered and oriented at the air-water interface with proteins in the water sub-phase to provide recognition sites for the monomers before they are polymerized by ultraviolet radiation. Reversible signal transduction in response to binding/unbinding of analytes will be detected directly by the polymer monolayer by colorimetric, electrochemical, uv-visible or fluorescence methods, and these monolayers may be developed to devices and sensors for specific biological and chemical detection. The PI with the support from the department will develop a multidisciplinary program in nanoscale sciences with special emphases on Chemistry, Biology and Engineering. In addition, a new Macromolecular Studies program with teaching and hand-on laboratory courses will be reactivated and offered to both graduate and undergraduate students. Monolayers based on polydiacetylene with different head groups will be designed, synthesized, processed and characterized for potential application in bio- and chemical-sensors and devices. In addition, these monolayers with specific recognition sites for analytes will have reversible signal transduction properties and signal may be processed by colorimetric, electrochemical, uv-visible or fluorescence methods. As part of the education program, a multidisciplinary program with training and research opportunities will be offered to both graduate and undergraduate students.