Wholly printed polypyrrole nanoparticle-based biosensors on flexible substrate.

Printing has been widely used in the sensor industry for its speed, low cost and production scalability. In this work we present a wholly-printed polypyrrole (PPy) based biosensor produced by inkjet printing bioinks composed of dispersions of PPy nanoparticles and enzymes onto screen-printed carbon electrodes. Two enzymes, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or glucose oxidase (GoD) were incorporated into the PPy nanoparticle dispersions to impart biosensing functionality and selectivity into the conducting polymer ink. Further functionality was also introduced by deposition of a permselective ethyl cellulose (EC) membrane using inkjet printing. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chrono-amperometry were used to characterize the response of the PPy biosensors to H2O2 and glucose. Results demonstrated the possibility of PPy based biosensor fabrication using the rapid and low cost technique of inkjet printing. The detection range of H2O2 was found to be 10 µM-10 mM and for glucose was 1-5 mM.

Point of care monitoring of hemodialysis patients with a breath ammonia measurement device based on printed polyaniline nanoparticle sensors.

A device for measuring human breath ammonia was developed based on a single use, disposable, inkjet printed ammonia sensor fabricated using polyaniline nanoparticles. The device was optimized for sampling ammonia in human breath samples by addressing issues such as variations in breath sample volume, flow rate, sources of oral ammonia, temperature and humidity. The resulting system was capable of measuring ammonia in breath from 40 to 2993 ppbv (r(2 )= 0.99, n = 3) as correlated with photoacoustic laser spectroscopy and correlation in normal human breath samples yielded a slope of 0.93 and a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.9705 (p < 0.05, n = 11). Measurement of ammonia in the breath of patients with end-stage kidney disease demonstrated its significant reduction following dialysis, while also correlating well with blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (r = 0.61, p < 0.01, n = 96). Excellent intraindividual correlations were demonstrated between breath ammonia and BUN (0.86 to 0.96), which demonstrates the possibility of using low cost point of care breath ammonia systems as a noninvasive means of monitoring kidney dysfunction and treatment.

Direct measurement of ammonia in simulated human breath using an inkjet-printed polyaniline nanoparticle sensor.

A sensor fabricated from the inkjet-printed deposition of polyaniline nanoparticles onto a screen-printed silver interdigitated electrode was developed for the detection of ammonia in simulated human breath samples. Impedance analysis showed that exposure to ammonia gas could be measured at 962 Hz at which changes in resistance dominate due to the deprotonation of the polymer film. Sensors required minimal calibration and demonstrated excellent intra-electrode baseline drift (≤1.67%). Gases typically present in breath did not interfere with the sensor. Temperature and humidity were shown to have characteristic impedimetric and temporal effects on the sensor that could be distinguished from the response to ammonia. While impedance responses to ammonia could be detected from a single simulated breath, quantification was improved after the cumulative measurement of multiple breaths. The measurement of ammonia after 16 simulated breaths was linear in the range of 40-2175 ppbv (27-1514 µg m(-3)) (r(2)=0.9963) with a theoretical limit of detection of 6.2 ppbv (4.1 µg m(-3)) (SN(-1)=3).

High sensitivity carbon nanotube based electrochemiluminescence sensor array.

Ink jet printed carbon nanotube forest arrays capable of detecting picomolar concentrations of immunoglobulin G (IgG) using electrochemiluminescence (ECL) are described. Patterned arrays of vertically aligned single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) forests were printed on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. Capture anti-IgG antibodies were then coupled through peptide bond formation to acidic functional groups on the vertical nanotubes. IgG immunoassays were performed using silica nano particles (Si NP) functionalized with the ECL luminophore [Ru(bpy)(2)PICH(2)](2+)], and IgG labelled G1.5 acid terminated PAMAM dendrimers. PAMAM is poly(amido amine), bpy is 2,2'-bipyridyl and PICH(2) is (2-(4-carboxyphenyl)imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline). The carboxyl terminal of [Ru(bpy)(2)PICH(2)](2+) (fluorescence lifetime ≈ 682±5 ns) dye was covalently coupled to amine groups on the 800 nm diameter silica spheres in order to produce significant ECL enhancement in the presence of sodium oxalate as co-reactant in PBS at pH 7.2). Significantly, this SWCNT-based sensor array shows a wide linear dynamic range for IgG coated spheres (10(6) to 10(12) spheres) corresponding to IgG concentrations between 20 pM and 300 nM. A detection limit of 1.1±0.1 pM IgG is obtained under optimal conditions.

An aqueous ammonia sensor based on an inkjet-printed polyaniline nanoparticle-modified electrode.

A sensor for the amperometric detection of aqueous ammonia was fabricated using the inkjet printing of dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBSA)-doped polyaniline nanoparticles (nanoPANI) onto a screen-printed carbon paste electrode. The combination of the environmentally inert, aqueous nanoparticle dispersion with the inkjet printing technique allowed the rapid fabrication of sensors based on polyaniline that was not easily achievable in the past due to the lack of processability of bulk forms of the conducting polymer. The resulting modified electrode was characterised with respect to its operating pH and number of print layers and was found to perform optimally at near neutral pH with four nanoPANI inkjet-printed layers. The sensor was tested in a flow injection system for its response to aqueous ammonia using amperometric detection at -0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl pseudo-reference and was found to have reproducibility to injections of ammonia of below 5% RSD and good sensitivity with an experimental detection limit of 20 microM and a theoretical detection limit of 3.17 microM (0.54 ppm). The sensor was also tested for its day-to-day stability and its response towards a range of interferents common to refrigerant waste waters. This system allows the rapid production of an ultra-low-cost, solid state, polyaniline-based aqueous ammonia sensor.