Discipline: Nanoscience
Subcategory: Nanoscience
Session: 2
Room: Exhibit Hall A
Shanice M. Flournoy - Virginia State University
Co-Author(s): Godwin O. Mbagwu, Virginia State University, VA
The overall goal of this research project is to develop new molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) materials modified with TiO2-Ag-SiO2 (TAS) semiconductors for intimate integration into robust, inexpensive and portable sol-gel-based optical sensors. Our hypothesis is that this design will enhance the optical properties, sensitivity, selectivity, stability and effectiveness of such sensing devices while addressing some of their major limitations. The proposed optical sensor can be used for the sensitive and selective detection of a wide variety of target small organic analyte of interest such as TNT (explosives), DMMP (a chemical warfare agent stimulant), drug agents or biomolecules in complex samples. MIPs are a class of artificial synthetic tailor-made polymeric materials that possess selective molecular recognition elements comparable in performance with that of natural systems such as antigens-antibodies, enzymes-substrates and receptors-hormones. The objectives of this project include: (1) Design and synthesize TAS nanoparticles (NPs), (2) Functionalize TAS NPs by room temperature sol-gel surface chemistry using sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen (SON) atom-containing basic silane derivatives; (3) Determine the physical and morphological properties of the functionalized organo-silane and metal-oxide semiconductor nanomaterial substrates; . (4) Train, motivate and encourage undergraduate students in STEM-related nanotechnology-based research. We successfully synthesized two organo-silane non-imprinted polymer (NIP) nanoparticles TAS-APTES NIP and TAS-MPTMS-tricyclic indole APTES NIP. Further, we investigated, by using UV-Visible spectroscopy, the nonspecific binding of TAS-APTES NIP control NPs with increasing TNT concentration in acetonitrile solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, UV-VIS and FTIR spectroscopy, and/or thermogravimetric (TGA) analyses were used for the characterization of the NPs substrates. Future experiments will include the preparation of MIP/NIP derivatives of TAS-APTES, TAS-MPTMS-tricyclic indole APTES and TAS-MPTMS-tetracyclic indole APTES and the investigation of their TNT binding properties by UV-Vis and Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS).
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Dr. Oliver Hill Jr., VSU CAREO Program
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Godwin Mbagwu, gmbagwu@vsu.edu
Role: I helped synthesize compound with APTES to make non-imprinted and molecular-imprinted polymers.