Scientists from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (TIPCCAS) have developed two microcantilever sensors, one modified with chitosan/gelatin hydrogels doped with CH3(OCH2CH2)3OTBDPS and another modified with chitosan-OTBDPS/gelatin hydrogels, for the sensitive and selective detection of fluoride ions (F−) in aqueous solution. Upon exposure to F−, the microcantilevers underwent bending deflection due to the cleavage of Si—O bond on reacting with F− in the hydrogel. The results show that the maximum bending deflections are proportional to the concentrations of F−, and the limits of detection are 10−8 M and 10−9 M for the two microcantilevers, respectively. Other ions, such as Cl−, Br−, NO− 3, H2PO− 4, HSO− 4, and AcO− have little effect on the deflection of the microcantilevers. The results show that the microcantilever may be used for in situ quantitative detection of F− in an aqueous solution and the mechanism of the bending are discussed.
Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Volume 14, Number 9, September 2014 , pp. 6632-6637(6) |
