Polydiacetylene paper-based colorimetric sensor array for vapor phase detection and identification of volatile organic compounds

Abstract

Detection and identification of VOCs in their vapor phase is essential for safety and quality assessment. In this work, a novel platform of a paper-based polydiacetylene (PDA) colorimetric sensor array is prepared from eight diacetylene monomers, six of which are amphiphilic and the other two are bolaamphiphilic. To fabricate the sensors, monomers are coated onto a filter paper surface using the drop-casting technique and converted to PDAs by UV irradiation. The PDA sensors show solvent induced irreversible color transition upon exposure to VOC vapors. When combined into a sensing array, the color change pattern as measured by RGB values and statistically analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) is capable of distinguishing 18 distinct VOCs in the vapor phase. The PCA score and loading plots also allow the reduction of the sensing elements in the array from eight to three PDAs that are capable of classifying 18 VOCs. Utilizing an array containing only two PDAs, various types of automotive fuels including gasoline, gasohol and diesel are successfully classified.

Point-of-Care Diagnostics

“…Similarly, a positive result in protein assays is interpreted from a colour change of tetrabromophenol blue from yellow to blue [70,73]. Up to date, multiplex colorimetric assays included medical diagnostics [81,87,90,91], environmental tests [76,83,84,86,89], and food quality tests [77,88] (Fig. 1.2a).…”

Towards Rational Design of Sensing Materials from Combinatorial Experiments

“…Thus, in addition to rational design, a variety of sensing materials ranging from dyes and ionophores to biopolymers, organic and hybrid polymers, and to nanomaterials have been discovered using detailed experimental observations or simply by chance (Bühlmann et al, 1998a;Hu et al, 2004;Martin et al, 2001;McKusick et al, 1958;Pedersen, 1967;Potyrailo and Sivavec, 2004;Steinle et al, 2000;Svetlicic et al, 1998;Walt et al, 1998). Such an approach in development of sensing materials reflects a more general situation in materials design that is "still too dependent on serendipity" but with the strong drive for the rational materials design (Eberhart and Clougherty, 2004;Seshadri et al, 2012).…”

“…This methodology enables the generation of a compositionally diverse array of sensors starting with only two DA monomers for the visual differentiation of organic solvents. Detection and identification of diverse solvent vapors was further performed using a paper-based PDA colorimetric sensor array (Eaidkong et al, 2012). The array was prepared from eight diacetylene monomers such as PCDA and 10,12-tricosadiynoic acid (TCDA), as shown in Figure 12.5A.…”

Electrospun Nanofiber-Based Sensors

“…Therefore, a great deal of researches have been carried out to develop sensitive, selective, easy-to-use, fast responding sensors for analyte detection. Among output signals, the colorimetric mode is considered as the most convenient sensing platform for developing a simple naked eye detector because it minimizes the need for extensive signal transduction hardware [102,103]. Nanofibrous or NFN membranes which could afford a great number of activity sites for immobilization of sensing materials and reactions have attached tremendous attention.…”