Synthesis and characterization of polythiophenes derivatives for sensor applications
| Grant number: | 01/13745-7 |
| Support type: | Research Projects - Thematic Grants |
| Duration: | April 01, 2002 - March 31, 2006 |
| Field of knowledge: | Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials |
| Principal Investigator: | Luiz Henrique Capparelli Mattoso |
| Grantee: | Luiz Henrique Capparelli Mattoso |
| Home Institution: | Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA). Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Brasil). São Carlos , SP, Brazil |
Abstract
EMBRAPA Instrumentação Agropecuária has been dedicated to the development of new methodologies, instruments, sensors, automation and related technologies that contribute to both the progress of the Brazilian agribusiness and the preservation of the environment, which are themes of extreme important nowadays to our country. In this context, the main objective of this project is the preparation. characterization and development of polymeric sensors to the evaluation of aroma, taste and quality of several beverages (wines, coffee, citric juices and milk) and also to check the quality of drinking water through the detection of pesticides and humic substances, topics that are currently under investigation at EMBRAPA. The sensor array will be composed by different sensing units made from conducting polymers under optimized conditions and will be selected in a way to obtain an electrical pattern response, which is characteristic of each beverage being investigated, foIlowed by sensorial analyses using artificial neural networks. An interdisciplinary team formed by chemistries, physicists, engineers and experts in artificial intelligence wiIl make possible the fabrication and validation of "taste sensor" prototypes. For that it will be necessary: i) to synthesis (chemically and electrochemicaIly), to characterize and to deposit (using the self-assembly and Langmuir-Blodgett techniques) onto gold micro interdigitated electrodes (sensing units) thin films of conducting polymers (polyanilines, polypyrroles, polythiophenes) and their mixtures with materiaIs (lipids, enzymes, polyanions, polycations and natural polymers) sensitive to the substances of study; ii) a spectroscopic study (by UV-vis, FTIR, Raman and EPR) to check possible interactions between the polymers or the composite films and the liquids under investigation; iii) to assemble a work bench for the automation of the electrical measurements and for the assessment of the performance of the sensors; and iv) to manufacture the prototypes, including softwares, dedicated to the validation of the sensors. The institutions involved in this research have the basic expertise necessary to the development of the project presented here and their researchers have been coIlaborating in this theme, having a significant amount of undergraduate, graduate and PhD students as weIl as pos-doc involved. (AU)