Fibre optic-based flow-through sensors

] Fibre optic-based flow-through sensors 

Saari and Seitz [250] used the tip of an optical fibre as the sensing microzone to immobilize a suitable reagent (fluoresceinamine) in order to construct a fluorescence sensor for pH measurements the design was inspired by previous work of Peterson et al., who used a dye immobilized at the tip of an optical fibre for pH absorptiometric measurements [251]. The 

All integrated sensors based on an interaction between the analyte and reagent (neither of which is used in a retained form) and regeneration of the latter rely on chemiluminescent reactions involving electroregeneration of the reagent or a quenching phenomenon. On the other hand, absorptiometric and reflectometric sensors of this type use colorimetric acid-base indicators supported on a suitable material. 

In addition to the sensors dealt with in Section 3.3.1.1, which could equally have been included in this Section as they use consumable immobilized reagents and regenerable fluorophores, Frei et al. developed a sensor for HPLC determinations based on the solid-state detection cell depicted in Fig. 3.38.B, where they immobilized 1-bromonaphthalene for measuring phosphorescence quenchers. Experiments demonstrated the sensor s usefulness for determining nitrate with a detection limit of ca. 10 M and an RSD of 4% for an analyte concentration of M. However, the scope of application of this sensor to chromatographically separated anions is rather narrow owing to the low sensitivity of the quenched phosphorescence detection for iodide and other halides [268]. 

Reflectance measurements provided an excellent means for building an ammonium ion sensor involving immobilization of a colorimetric acid-base indicator in the flow-cell depicted schematically in Fig. 3.38.C. The cell was furnished with a microporous PTFE membrane supported on the inner surface of the light window. The detection limit achieved was found to depend on the constant of the immobilized acid-base indicator used it was lO M for /7-Xylenol Blue (pAT, = 2.0). The response time was related to the ammonium ion concentration and ranged from 1 to 60 min. The sensor remained stable for over 6 months and was used to determine the analyte in real samples consisting of purified waste water, which was taken from a tank where the water was collected for release into the mimicipal waste water treatment plant. Since no significant interference fi-om acid compounds such as carbon dioxide or acetic acid was encountered, the sensor proved to be applicable to real samples after pH adjustment. The ammonium concentrations provided by the sensor were consistent with those obtained by ion chromatography, a spectrophotometric assay and an ammonia-selective electrode [269]. 

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Fibre optic-based flow-through optical biosensors The dramatic advances in fibre optic development in die last decade have promoted construction of sensors where radiation, whether emitted, transmitted or reflected, is conducted fi-om the sample to the detection system. The wide variety of available optical waveguide types (solid rods, hollow cylinders, micro-planar geometries) has been used with varying success in sensor development. 

Fibre optic-based flow-cell To a flow-through potentiometric sensor... 

The sensing microzone of the flow-through sensor depicted in Fig. 5.9.B1 integrates gas-diffusion and detection with two analytical reactions [28], viz. (a) the urease-catalysed formation of ammonium ion by hydrolysis of urea (the analyte), which takes places on a hydrophilic enzyme membrane in contact with the sample-donor stream, which contains a gel where the enzyme is covalently bound and (b) an acid-b reaction that takes place at the microzone on the other side of the diffusion membrane and involves Bromothymol Blue as indicator. This is a sandwich-type sensor including a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic membrane across which the sample stream is circulated —whence it is formally similar to some enzyme electrodes. Since the enzymatic conversion of the analyte must be as efficient as possible, deteetion (based on fibre optics) is performed after the donor and acceptor streams have passed through the sensor. Unlike the previous sensor (Fig. 5.9.A), this does not rely on the wall-jet approach in addition, each stream has its own outlet and the system includes two sensing microzones... 

A DNA optical sensor system was proposed by Cass and co-workers [35] based on the combination of sandwich solution hybridization, magnetic bead capture, flow injection and chemiluminescence for the rapid detection of DNA hybridization. Sandwich solution hybridization uses two sets of DNA probes, one labelled with biotin, the other with an enzyme marker and hybridization is performed in solution where the mobility is greater and the hybridization process is faster, rather than on a surface. The hybrids were bound to the streptavidin-coated magnetic beads through biotin-streptavidin binding reaction. A chemiluminescence fibre-optic biosensor for the detection of hybridization of horseradish peroxidase-labelled complementary DNA to covalent immobilized DNA probes was developed by Zhou and co-workers [36]. 

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