Universiẗat, Diss., 2001--Heidelberg.

University, Diss., 2001--Freiburg (Breisgau).

University, Diss., 2005--Bielefeld.

In recent years, the application of fluorescent conjugated polymers for sensing chemical and biological analytes has received much attention from many researchers. A promising development in this direction was the fabrication of conducting polymer-based sensors for the detection of metal ions, small organic molecules and biomolecules. Herein, we have designed, synthesized and studied a series of copolymers containing alternate phenylene and 2,5- or 2,6-substituted pyridine rings. The basic N-atom of the pyridine ring and the adjacent –OH group from the phenyl ring provide binding sites for metal ions. Another series of water-soluble conjugated polymers with propoxy sulfonate side chains are investigated for biosensor applications. Significant quenching of the polymer fluorescence upon addition of viologen derivatives was also observed. The quenching effect on the polymer fluorescence confirmed that the newly synthesized polymers can be useful in the application of metal and biological sensors. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Les microARN (miARN), qui sont des ARN de 21 à 25 bases, constituent la dernière classe de régulateurs de l'expression génétique découverte. Environ 1500 ont été identifiés chez l'homme à ce jour. Les miARN sont des biomarqueurs de nombreuses pathologies (cancers et maladies cardiovasculaires, auto-immunes (sclérose en plaque), neurodégénératives (Alzheimer, Parkinson) et infectieuses (SIDA, CHIKV)) et l'ambition du projet doctoral est de réaliser un prototype de biocapteur électrochimique qui permette leur détection directe dans des fluides biologiques d'origine humaine (sérum) à des concentrations très faibles, du picomolaire (10^-12 M) au subattomolaire (10^-16 M), sans amplification par réaction de polymérisation en chaîne (PCR). / MicroRNAs (miRNA), which are 21 to 25 base length RNAs, are the last discovered class of genetic expression regulators. Nowadays, about 1500 human miRNAs have been identified. MiRNA are biosensors of many pathologies (cancers, cardiovascular, auto-immune (multiple sclerosis),neurodegenerative (Alzheimer, Parkinson)and infectious diseases (AIDS, CHIKV)) and the doctoral project ambition is to develop an electrochemical biosensor prototype for miRNA direct detection in biological human fluids (serum) at very low concentrations, from picomolar (10^-12 M) to subattomolar (10^-16 M), without amplification by polymerisation chain reaction (PCR).

Monitoring and controlling pH is of utmost importance in bioprocessing as it directly affects product yield and quality. Multiplexed experiments can be performed in nanobioreactors for optimisation of yield and cell heterogeneity in a relatively quick and inexpensive manner. In this thesis, a pH holographic sensor (holosensor) is miniaturised to 3.11 nL in volume and integrated into a PDMS-glass microfluidic chip for monitoring the growth of Lactobacillus casei Shirota. Although other established methods for monitoring cell cultures can be utilised, miniaturised holosensors enable real-time and non-consumptive monitoring of the bacterial cell culture growth medium. The 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA)-co-2-(trifluoromethyl) propenoic acid (TFMPA) holosensor was fabricated using an adapted technique from photolithography, coupled with the use of a polymerisation inhibitor to control the gel polymerisation with diameters not exceeding a standard deviation of 0.067. The hologram brightness was optimised to 1.05 ms integration time with 36X magnification using a low power (0.290 mW) 532 nm green continuous wave (CW) laser with a devised beam-offset technique. The holosensor was characterised with ionic strength balanced (9.50 mS/cm) McIIvaine pH buffers and a calibration curve plotted together with measured ionic strength, optical density at 600 nm (OD600) and pH. Correspondingly, RGB-xyY transformed values were plotted in the CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram. Later, a miniaturised 0.4φ HEMA-co-TFMPA holosensor and array was also demonstrated. Together with the 3.0φ holosensor, an accuracy parameter for the 0.4φ spot and array holosensors were calculated to be 99.08%, 99.38% and 97.77% respectively. Further work involved studying the issues associated with fabricating gels with unusually flat gel profiles. Other preliminary results suggested the alternative of utilising polymers as a holosensor substrate, together with a dye-free method for hologram fabrication, outlined the prospective possibility of a miniaturised holosensor integrated into a polymer microfluidic chip with the flexibility of hologram colour customisation for cell culture monitoring.

Botrytis species affect over 300 host plants in all climate areas of the world, at both pre and post-harvest stages, leading to significant losses in agricultural produce. Therefore, the development of a rapid, sensitive and reliable method to assess the pathogen load of infected crops can help to prescribe an effective curing regime. Growers would then have the ability to predict and manage the full storage potential of their crops and thus provide an effective disease control and reduce post-harvest losses. A highly sensitive electrochemical immunosensor based on a screen-printed gold electrode (SPGE) with onboard carbon counter and silver / silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) pseudo-reference electrode was developed in this work for the detection and quantification of Botrytis species. The sensor utilised a direct sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format with a monoclonal antibody against Botrytis immobilised on the gold working electrode. Two immobilisation strategies were investigated for the capture antibody, and these included adsorption and covalent immobilisation after self-assembled monolayer formation with 3-dithiodipropionic acid (DTDPA). A polyclonal antibody conjugated to the electroactive enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was then applied for signal generation. Electrochemical measurements were conducted using 3,3’, 5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine dihydrochloride / hydrogen peroxide (TMB/H2O2) as the enzyme substrate system at a potential of -200 mV. The developed biosensor was capable of detecting latent Botrytis infections 24 h post inoculation with a linear range from 150 to 0.05 μg fungal mycelium ml-1 and a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 16 ng ml-1 for covalent immobilisation and 58 ng ml-1 for adsorption, respectively. Benchmarked against the commercially available Botrytis ELISA kits, the optimised immuno-electrochemical biosensor showed strong correlation of the quantified samples (R2=0.998).

The salient issues of integrated biosensors on a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) platform are the limited transducer design and the need for post-processing. To overcome these issues, a heterogeneously integrated system, which employs both CMOS and large-area processing, was proposed and developed. The system presented, could become a rapid, low-cost and disposable sensing platform for point-of-care applications. The heterogeneously integrated system, comprising a CMOS front-end circuit and disposable electrodes, was applied to measure the impedance of suspended DNA at different concentrations. The measurement showed a double sensitivity compared to the one carried out on the CMOS platform only. The noise analysis of CMOS transimpedance amplifiers was performed, and the impact of technology scaling on low-noise transimpedance amplifiers was studied using the Enz-Krummenacher-Vittoz (EKV) model. It was found that the noise performance improves slowly with device scaling down to 90 nm. Further device scaling may increase the gate leakage current noise due to the very thin gate oxide. Disposable electrodes fabricated using large-area processing are low cost and flexible in terms of design. In particular, inkjet-printed silver electrodes on glossy paper and gold electrodes on the glass substrate were characterised. Both electrodes with the same dimension agreed well in determining solution resistance. In addition, the paper-based electrodes presented an improved sensitivity of impedance measurement at low frequencies. The amorphous oxide thin-film transistor (TFT) is promising for implementing active circuits on disposable substrates. In particular, the low-frequency noise of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) TFTs was characterised, and a TFT-based regulated cascade transimpedance amplifier was designed and simulated with the extracted device parameters. The a-IGZO TFT showed a comparable noise performance to the PMOS device in deep submicron processes. The simulated circuit featured a transimpedance gain up to 120 dB, a bandwidth of 29.4 kHz, input-referred noise PSD of 2.91 pA/√Hz, and a power consumption of 18.55 μW, indicating that TFT-based front-end circuits are promising for implementing low-cost, low-noise and low-power biosensors.

Orientador: Ivana Cesarino / Abstract: A new biosensor was developed by a simple electrocodeposition of reduced graphene oxide (rGO), polypyrrole (PPy) and the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) on surface of platinum (Pt) electrode. In potential range of -0.2 to +0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl (3.0 mol L-1), using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), it was observed a process in + 0.1 V and this corresponds to the dimerization of electrochemical oxidation products of thiocholine, resulting in ditio-bis-choline. The biosensor developed was evaluated using DPV in the analysis of carbaryl, which inhibits the AChE enzyme action. The best results achieved were with the followings optimized conditions: 75 mV pulse amplitude, step potential of 4 mV, and a phosphate buffer solution (PBS) 0.2 mol L-1 and pH 6.0. Using these parameters was observed a linear response to carbaryl in a range of 0.1 to 0.5 µmol L-1, with a detection limit of 11.6 nmol L-1 (2.3 µg/kg), which is an appropriate limit for determination of carbaryl in the cultures which these pesticide is applied, considering the maximum reside limit allowed by Brazilian legislation. The biosensor proposed, Pt/rGO/PPy/AChE, was applied successfully in the determination of carbaryl in samples of cabbage and tomato. / Resumo: Um novo biossensor foi desenvolvido baseado na simples eletrocodeposição do óxido de grafeno reduzido (rGO), polipirrol (PPy) e da enzima acetilcolinesterase (AChE) na superfície do eletrodo de platina (Pt). No intervalo de potencial -0,2 a +0,5 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl (3,0 mol L-1), utilizando voltametria de pulso diferencial (DPV), observou-se um processo em +0,1 V e este corresponde a dimerização dos produtos de oxidação eletroquímica da tiolcolina, formando ditio-bis-colina. O biossensor desenvolvido foi avaliado utilizando DPV na análise do pesticida carbaril, o qual inibe a ação da enzima AChE. Os melhores resultados obtidos foram com as seguintes condições otimizadas: 75 mV amplitude de pulso, incremento de potencial de 4 mV, e uma solução tampão fosfato (PBS) 0,2 mol L-1 pH 6,0. Usando tais parâmetros observou-se uma resposta linear para o carbaril no intervalo de 0,1 a 0,5 mol L-1, com um limite de detecção de 11,6 nmolL-1 (2,3 µg/kg), que é um limite adequado para determinar carbaril nas culturas em que este pesticida é aplicado considerando o limite máximo de resíduo permitido pelas legislações brasileiras. O biossensor proposto, Pt/rGO/PPy/AChE, foi aplicado com sucesso na determinação de carbaril em amostras de tomate e repolho. / Mestre

A urease (Canavalia ensiformis DC.) foi fisicamente imobilizada em matrizes de polipirrol (PPI) com o objetivo de se detectar uréia em amostras padrão. A eletropolimerização do pirrol foi realizada por voltametria cíclica em uma faixa de potencial de -1,0 a 1,0 V vs. ECS em um meio aquoso contendo 0,2 mol/L de \'LI\'CL\'O IND.4\' e 0,1 mol/L de pirrol. Este procedimento permitiu também a imobilização da enzima na matriz polimérica em suas formas, urease purificada (comercial) e como extrato bruto obtido a partir do feijão de porco (Jack Bean), após a adição de 300 \'mü\'g/mL de urease purificada ou 100 \'mü\'L de extrato bruto de feijão de porco. A urease purificada possui 34.375 U/g de sólido e o extrato bruto, 13.000 UA/mL, valores obtidos por titrimetria. A presença da enzima imobilizada nos filmes de PPI foi verificada por voltametria cíclica, FTIR, microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV), microscopia de força atômica (AFM) e por uma microbalança de cristal de quartzo (MCQE). A atividade da enzima após a imobilização nos filmes de PPI foi confirmada pela presença de íons amônio em solução, que são formados como produtos da reação de hidrólise da uréia catalisada pela enzima. Como o transdutor influencia a eficiência e a sensibilidade do biossensor, dois métodos de transdução foram estudados: cronoamperometria, aplicando-se um potencial de -0,28 V durante 120 s em tampão fosfato pH 7,0 e a cronopotenciometria, aplicando-se uma corrente de 1,0 mA durante 120 s em tampão fosfato pH 7,0 variando-se a concentração de uréia. O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência do biossensores para a detecção de uréia por meio de transdutores potenciométricos e amperométricos e depois comparar as eficiências dos filmes de PPI/urease purificada e PPI/extrato bruto como biosensores. / Urease (Canavalia ensiformis DC.) was physically immobilized on polypyrrole (PPy) films aiming at detecting urea in standard samples. The electropolymerization of pyrrole was performed by cyclic voltammetry at a potential range from -1.0 to 1.0 V vs SCE in an aqueous medium containing \'LI\'CL\'O IND.4\' 0.2 mol/L and 0.1 mol/L pyrrole. This procedure also allowed us to immobilize the enzyme into the PPy matrix in forms, commercially purified and crude extract of urease obtained from Jack Bean (Canavalia ensiformis) after adding into the electropolymerization media 300 \'mü\'g/mL of purified urease or 100 \'mü\'L of crude extract. The urease solutions had units of active enzyme of 34.375 U/g (purified) and 13.000 UA/mL (crude extract), and the crude extract was obtained from Jack beans by titrimétric methods. The presence of urease immobilized into the PPy film was verified by cyclic voltammetry, FTIR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and by electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) The activity of the enzyme after immobilizing into the PPy films was confirmed by the presence of ammonium ions in solution, since they are formed as catalytic products by urea hydrolysis reaction catalyzed enzyme. The transducer element influences the efficiency and sensitivity of the biosensor, and two transducer methods were studied: chronoamperometry, by applying a potential of -0.28 V during 120 s in buffer phosphate at pH 7.0 and chronopotentiometry, by applying a current of 1.0 mA during 120 s in buffer phosphate at pH 7.0 both after varying the urea concentration. Our main purpose was to evaluate the efficiency of the biosensors for detecting urea by means of potentiometric and amperometric transducers and then compare the efficiencies of PPY/purified urease e PPY/crude extract as biosensors.