10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
▲ [6a-A410-6] Fiber Optic SPR based Dopamine Sensor utilizing GNP/SnO2 Nanocomposite Supported Molecular Imprinting
Keywords:Surface plasmon resonance, Molecular imprinting, Fiber optic dopamine sensor
Dopamine (DA), belongs to the catecholamine family of neurotransmitters and very important in humans. It is produced in adrenal glands and several areas of the brain. Dopamine is formed by decarboxylation of DOPA and is a precursor of two other neurotransmitters adrenaline and noradrenalin. Dopamine is the most abundant of the catecholamine, hence affects many aspects of brain functionality such as movement, emotional response and ability to experience pain and pleasure. Dopamine also affects the cardiovascular and renal systems. Excessive secretion of DA (e.g., due to Huntington’s disease) is associated with failure in energy metabolism and causes untimely death. Differently low levels of dopamine in the central nervous system causes several neurological diseases, for example schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, it is important to detect dopamine level efficiently in human body. In the present work, we reported an efficient fiber optic DA sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and molecular imprinting technique. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon was used as a transducer mechanism and molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) was used as the recognition element. MIP possesses the highly selective binding sites for the template molecule in a polymeric medium and these are having low cost and can be synthesized easily. Further, graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) /SnO2 nanocomposite was used for the immobilizing layer for molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and as well as to target the problem of distance variation which occurs in between imprinted cavity and sensing surface, an ultrathin layer of functionalized GNP was used. Here we functionalized GNP using SnO2 nanoparticles. Extraordinary electronic properties of GNP enhanced the strength of evanescent field, hence improved sensor performance. High specific area of GNP provided more recognition sites for thin MIP layer. SnO2 nanoparticles prevented agglomeration of GNP occurs at nanoscale.