Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) are porous materials that enable specific binding of their respective target molecules; while they mimic the affinity of natural recognition elements, they are low-cost, robust (can withstand extremes of pH and T), and can be used for templates as small as ions to large macromolecules. Furthermore, MIPs are produced using animal-free technology, an important aspect considering still 1 million animals are used in the EU per year and there is a current ban on use of animal-derived antibodies.

In this talk, I will show how we can integrate MIPs into modified screen-printed electrodes (MIP-modified SPEs) and use them for sensing of environmental contaminants [1]. Specifically, I will talk about aspects of reusability and use of paper as substrate material to promote sustainability. The sensors are used to measure caffeine, an anthropogenic marker of water contamination, a range of antibiotics [2], and microorganisms to provide information about water quality. I will demonstrate both our standalone thermal sensor platform that is used for rapid screening of samples [3] to more common techniques involving electrochemical detection. Our sensors can be used for fast and low-cost detection performed on-site considering the enhanced stability of the MIPs, which holds great potential for the determination of contaminants in environmental samples. Moreover, this is a platform technology and can be adapted to an array format containing a range of markers.

[1] K. Betlem, I. Mahmood, R.D. Seixas, I. Sadiki, R.L.D. Raimbault, C.W. Foster, R.D. Crapnell, S. Tedesco, C.E. Banks, J. Gruber, M.Peeters, Chem. Eng. J. 2019, 359, 505-517

[2] https://youtu.be/A0HVHX5D5T4

[3] E. SteenRedeker, K. Eersels, O. Akkermans, J. Royakkers, S. Dyson, K. Nurekeyeva, B. Ferrando, P. Cornelis, M. Peeters, P. Wagner, H. Dilien, B. van Grinsven, T. J. Cleij, ACS Infect. Dis., 2017, 3, 388-397.

Registration is now open.

You will be sent a link at 12.30pm on Tuesday, 6 July 2021. This will allow you to access our talk that will start at 3pm.