published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering)--Vanderbilt University, Dec. 2007. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

Le suivi de la qualité de l'eau a été d'une grande importance depuis ces dernières décennies afin de trouver des solutions de contrôler la contamination de l'eau, induite en grande partie par les activités agricoles et industrielles. Bien que les méthodes conventionnelles, comme la chromatographie, sont des outils très précis et sensibles, un intérêt grandissant a été placé sur des techniques prometteuses qui peuvent être utilisées sur site, sont bas coût, et offrent la possibilité d'effectuer des analyses rapides. Le travail présenté ici est dédié au développement de composant Laboratoire sur Puce pour l'analyse de la toxicité de l'eau. Il consiste en un système portable pour la détection sur site et offre la possibilité d'une double détection complémentaire : optique et électrochimique. Comme la partie dédiée au capteur électrochimique a préalablement été validée, cette étude est focalisée sur l'implémentation d'un biocapteur électrochimique basé sur l'utilisation d'une algue, pour la détection de polluants dans l'eau. Le principe basique de détection consiste au suivi de changements de l'activité métabolique d'algues induits par la présence d'herbicides. La réponse de l'algue est différente pour chaque concentration d'herbicide dans un échantillon examiné. Deux herbicides sélectionnés affectent l'activité photosynthétique de l'algue et par conséquent, induisent des modifications dans la quantité des espèces électroactives produites par l'algue : O2, H2O2 et H3O+/OH-. Avant le développement du composant final type Laboratoire sur Puce, les principes de détection aussi bien que les matériaux d'électrode qui vont être intégrés, ont été validés en utilisant un type de composant plus simple, qui a été réalisé grâce aux technologies de fabrication silicium et qui a été caractérisé par des procédures plus simples. Une puce sur silicium contenant un microsystème électrochimique intégrant trois électrodes a été mis en place. Une fois validés, les matériaux de détection et les configurations choisis précédemment ont été utilisés pour la fabrication des composants Laboratoire sur Puce. Les composants Laboratoire sur Puce ont été ensuite utilisés pour des tests biologiques afin de détecter les herbicides d'intérêt. Une attention spéciale a été placée sur le suivi de O2 comme indicateur de la présence d'herbicide, étant donné que cet élément est le plus représentatif de modifications de l'activité métabolique. Un effet d'inhibition sur la photosynthèse, dépendant de la concentration de l'herbicide a été démontré. La détection de l'herbicide a été réalisée avec une grande sensibilité et sur une gamme couvrant la limite de concentration maximale acceptable imposé par le gouvernement canadien. / Water quality assessment has attracted wide attention during the last decades in order to find ways to control contamination of water bodies induced, in a big part, by agricultural and industrial activities. Although conventional techniques, such as chromatography are highly accurate and sensitive tools, increasing interest has been placed lately to powerful alternative techniques that can be used on field, are cost-effective and offer the possibility of conducting rapid analysis. The present work was therefore dedicated to the development of a lab-on-chip device for water toxicity analysis. It consists in a portable system for on-site detection and aims at offering the possibility of conducting double complementary detection: optical and electrochemical. Since the optical sensor is already validated, this study focused on the implementation of the algal-based, electrochemical biosensor for detection water contaminants. The basic detection principle consists in monitoring disturbances in metabolic activities of algae induced by the presence of the herbicides. Algal response is different for each herbicide concentration in the examined sample. The two selected herbicides affect algal photosynthetic activity and consequently induce modifications in the quantity of electroactive species, O2, H2O2 and H3O+/OH- ions related to pH, produced by algae. Prior to the development of the final lab-on-chip device, the detection principle as well as the electrode materials that were going to be integrated were validated using a simpler device that was implemented using a silicon-based fabrication technology and was characterized using simpler procedures. A silicon chip containing the integrated three-electrode electrochemical microsystem was fabricated. The performance of the microsystem was evaluated through electrochemical characterization and calibration was performed. Once validated, the aforementioned materials and configurations were used for the fabrication of the lab-on-chip devices. The lab-on-chip devices were further used in bioassays to detect the herbicides of interest. Special emphasis was placed on O2 monitoring as indicator of the presence of herbicide, as it is the element the most representative of variations in metabolic activities. A concentration-dependent inhibition effect of the herbicide on photosynthesis was demonstrated. Herbicide detection was achieved with a greater sensitivity and a range covering the limit of maximum acceptable concentration imposed by Canadian government.

Ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) are generally defined as electrodes with sizes ≤25 µm. UMEs can be prepared by several methods including by sealing a conductive filament like thin metal wire or a single carbon fiber in a glass capillary. The small size of UMEs makes them useful as probes for measuring electroactive species in confined spaces (for example, inside living cells, etc.), and also enables very effective mass transport, resulting in rapid achievement of steady-state response and facilitating measurement of fast electrochemical reactions. Application of UMEs often requires modification of the electrode surface to improve the selectivity and the sensitivity towards the target analyte. Surface modification methods are time-consuming and may require expensive equipment. Previous research in our group demonstrated that a simple soft nitriding method could be employed to introduce surface nitrogen on carbon fiber (CF). The technique improved electrochemical response of CF-UMEs towards hydrogen peroxide (a reactive oxygen species that has been related to various malignancies and disorders) and, in separate experiments, also enabled deposition of electroactive metal nanoparticles on the UME surface. Since the presence of phosphorus heteroatoms on carbon electrodes has been shown to impart similar benefits, here we investigate a simple phosphorus doping strategy to make P-doped CF-UMEs. We compare their properties towards the electrocatalytic reduction of H2O2 to both N-doped CF-UMEs and unmodified CF-UMEs.

Metal nanoparticles have been widely used for many catalytic and electrocatalytic applications due to their larger surface area-to-volume ratios and higher densities of active sites compared to bulk materials. This has resulted in much interest in understanding the electrocatalytic behavior of metal nanoparticles with respect to their structure. However, most research on this topic has employed collections of nanoparticles. Due to difficulties in controlling and characterizing particle loading and interparticle distance in nanoparticle ensembles, single nanoparticles studies have recently become a topic of great interest. In this study, a soft nitriding technique was applied to chemical vapor-deposited carbon ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) in order to immobilize ligand-free AuNPs onto the carbon substrate. The feasibility of this method is geared toward studying the properties of single AuNPs immobilized onto carbon nanoelectrodes. The ligand-free AuNPs immobilized onto the nitrided carbon UMEs were highly electrocatalytic toward methanol oxidation.

Compared to unmodified carbons and even some metal materials, nitrogen-doped carbons have been found to exhibit better performance for reducing oxygen-oxygen bonds, a key step in electroreduction of both O2 (an important reaction in energy applications) and H2O2 (an important reaction in sensing and biosensing). Previous studies from our lab revealed that thermal decomposition of urea in the presence of carbon fiber (CF) results in N-doped that exhibited good electrocatalytic properties for H2O2 reduction. However, previous methods of sealing ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) made from N-doped CF using laser heating of borosilicate capillaries and epoxy seemed to affect surface nitrogen contents and electrocatalytic properties. In this work, we evaluate paraffin sealing as a strategy for preparing UMEs in a way that minimizes effects on important surface nitrogen species so that electrocatalytic properties of the N-doped CF towards H2O2 reduction can be retained.

Ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) (limiting dimensions <~25 μm) and nanoelectrodes (<~100 nm) exhibit enhanced electrochemical properties compared to macroscopic electrodes. Their small sizes and enhanced properties make them well-suited for various interesting and important applications such as measuring redox-active species in nonaqueous solvents, studying intermediates of fast electrochemical reactions, and investigating electrochemical and electrocatalytic properties of single nanoparticles. While UMEs are commercially available, nanoelectrode fabrication is still largely confined to research labs. Various methods for constructing nanoelectrodes have been reported and continue to be developed, but most require considerable expertise, and comparisons between different fabrication processes are lacking. In this work, a comparison of laser-assisted pulling and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods of electrode fabrication is made with the aim of optimizing production of carbon nanoelectrodes for single nanoparticle electrochemical measurements. By examining effects of pulling parameters, post-pulling treatments, and CVD processing, electrodes as small as ~50 nm were successfully produced.

Metal nanoparticles have been a primary focus in areas of catalysis and electrocatalysis applications as a result of their large surface area-to-volume ratios. While there is an increased interest in understanding the properties and behaviors of metal nanoparticles, they can become expensive over time. Recent research has incorporated the idea of using heteroatom-doped materials as a cheaper catalytic alternative to metal nanoparticles. In this study nitrogen-doping and phosphorous-doping techniques were applied to chemical vapor-deposited carbon ultramicroelectrodes in order to study the electrocatalytic properties toward the oxygen reduction reaction and the enhanced affinity for the deposition of gold nanoparticles onto the electrodes.

Due to enhanced properties such as large surface area-to-volume ratio, metal nanoparticles are often employed as catalysts for various applications. However, most studies involving nanoparticle catalysts have been conducted on collections of particles rather than single nanoparticles. Results obtained for ensemble systems can be difficult to interpret due to variations in particle loading and interparticle distance, which are often challenging to control and characterize. In this study, two immobilization strategies for incorporating gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on carbon fiber ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) were compared with the goal of extending these techniques to nanoelectrodes for studies of single AuNPs. Both layer-by-layer deposition of AuNPs on natural carbon fiber UMEs and direct reduction of AuNPs on nitrided carbon fiber UMEs were explored. Although both methods proved feasible, the direct reduction method seemed to be more effective and should better enable direct comparisons of bare and capped AuNPs.