Presentation Abstract

Title of Talk:
Advanced Nanosensors for Continuous Monitoring of Heavy Metals

Abstract of Talk:
The overall objective of this work is to utilize novel colloidal-metal nanoparticles that are incorporated into a bed of electrically conducting polymers (ECPs) for the development of nanosensors. We explored the feasibility of designing advanced conducting materials for sensor and remediation applications. Specifically, we examined the synthesis of (i) polyamic acid-silver nanoparticle composites membranes, (ii) polyoxy-dianiline films and (iii) electrochemical deposition of gold nanoparticle films on functionalized conducting polymer substrates. We present here a short description of our fast and simple synthetic approach to gold nanoparticles. This one-step, synthesis of stable gold nanoparticles uses polyamic acids as both the reducing and stabilizing agents. The nanostructured materials were characterized using electrochemical and morphological techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic methods, Energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Novel gold nanoparticles were prepared through the reduction of AuCl3 by polyamic acid in organic medium in less than an hour. The polyamic acid acts as a reducing agent of the metal salt and a stabilizing agent of the resulting Au nanoparticles. The procedure resulted in gold nanoparticles capped with the ð-conjugated polyamic acid. Depending on the reactant concentrations and ratios, the polyamic acid-metal hybrid were synthesized either as well-dispersed or aggregated particles. The size of the particles which can be controlled by varying the polyamic acid:AuCl3 ratios ranged from 4.0 ± 0.7 nm to 7.8 ± 1.0 nm. Potential applications and environmental implications of the proposed materials will also be discussed.

Top of page