Sensing & Monitoring

Sensing in and with (multi)functional nanopores

In applications such as drug delivery or sensing, nanomaterials are often exposed to a multitude of environmental conditions. Thereby nanomaterials and -pores often exhibit a different behavior than bulk materials due to their small dimensions. One example is the pH-value. Based on indirect transport measurements and theoretical studies the “pH” in nanopores is reported to be shifted and pH-transitions to be broadened as compared to bulk solution. Inspired by pH-detection strategies in cells we aim to get a better understanding on confinement effects on charge transitions and “pH” in nanopores by using e.g. fluorescence dyes for a direct pH-readout. We envision on-line “pH” detection down to single nanopores and potentially single molecule experiments.

Formerly involved team members: R. Brilmayer, M. Ochs

Finished Projects: LOEWE „i-Napo“ (2016-2020), DFG iMono

Related publications:

R. Brilmayer, M. Brodrecht, C. Kaiser, H. Beitzke, B. Kumari, J. Wachtvetil, G. Buntkowsky, A. Andrieu-Brunsen, The interplay of nanoconfinement and pH from the perspective of a dye‐reporter molecule, Chem. Nano. Mater., 2020, 6, 1-12.

R. Mohammadi, M. Ochs, A. Andrieu-Brunsen, N. Vogel, Effect of Asymmetry on Plasmon Hybridaization and Sensing Capacities of Hole-Disk Arrays, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2019, 124, 4, 2609-2618.

M. Stanzel, R. Brilmayer, M. Langhans, T. Meckel, A. Andrieu-Brunsen, FRET-based pH-sensing in mesoporous thin films with tunable detection range, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 2019, 282, 29-37.