Metal ion specific capacity affinity sensor
First Claim
1. A method for producing a metal ion-specific capacity affinity sensor suitable for determining the presence of a certain heavy metal ion of interest in a contacting solution by capacitance measurement, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a piece of a noble metal having a surface;
b) providing a first self-assembling monolayer-forming molecule comprising a coupling group;
c) contacting said noble metal piece in step a) with the first self-assembling monolayer-forming molecule in step b), thereby obtaining a first self-assembling monolayer on said surface of said noble metal piece;
d) contacting said first self-assembling monolayer on said noble metal piece with a molecule specifically binding said heavy metal ion, thereby coupling said molecule to said first self-assembling monolayer; and
e) contacting the piece obtained in step d) with a second self-assembling monolayer-forming molecule, thereby obtaining a noble metal surface that is at least 90% covered with a self-assembling monolayer, wherein the coupling reaction in step d) is carried out in presence of polyethylene-glycol-diglycidyl-ether such that the polyethylene-glycol-diglycidyl-ether entraps the molecule and facilitates the coupling of said molecule to the first self assembling monolayer.
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Abstract
This invention relates to a metal ion specific capacitance sensor with exceptional sensitivity and wide operating range. It is versatile because different kinds of recognition elements can be immobilized directly in a self-assembling monolayer substantially completely covering the surface of the measuring noble metal electrode. The electrode then becomes selective to those metal ions in the solution that show affinity to the recognition element on the surface. Compared to previously described electrochemical sensors, the sensor according to the present invention shows many orders of magnitude better sensitivity because of the unique measuring principle.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for producing a metal ion-specific capacity affinity sensor suitable for determining the presence of a certain heavy metal ion of interest in a contacting solution by capacitance measurement, comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a piece of a noble metal having a surface;
b) providing a first self-assembling monolayer-forming molecule comprising a coupling group;
c) contacting said noble metal piece in step a) with the first self-assembling monolayer-forming molecule in step b), thereby obtaining a first self-assembling monolayer on said surface of said noble metal piece;
d) contacting said first self-assembling monolayer on said noble metal piece with a molecule specifically binding said heavy metal ion, thereby coupling said molecule to said first self-assembling monolayer; and
e) contacting the piece obtained in step d) with a second self-assembling monolayer-forming molecule, thereby obtaining a noble metal surface that is at least 90% covered with a self-assembling monolayer, wherein the coupling reaction in step d) is carried out in presence of polyethylene-glycol-diglycidyl-ether such that the polyethylene-glycol-diglycidyl-ether entraps the molecule and facilitates the coupling of said molecule to the first self assembling monolayer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification