Polymeric sensor for the detection of iron ions
The collaboration of scientists across departments of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry has brought another success: a new publication in the prestigious journal Biosensors. In this study, researchers managed to develop a sensitive layer that consists of a semiconducting polymer and chelating molecules that can selectively interact with the required ions, including iron ions.
Iron is an essential element in the human body, its deficiency and excess can cause serious diseases. Therefore, scientists from the IMC decided to develop potentiometric ion-selective electrodes (ISE) to help detect this important element. Researchers have been working on this study since 2021.
"We have developed a sensor for the determination of iron ions, which consists of a polyaniline layer as an ion-to-electron converter. On its surface are deposited chelating molecules that can selectively chelate specific iron ions), and a layer of poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) that protects the sensor from non-specific interaction. We have shown that our potentiometric layers show a fast response to the presence of iron ions Fe2+ or Fe3+, do not interfere with other ions such as Cu2+, and work in a biological environment of bovine serum albumin as a model serum protein,” explains Dr. Elena Tomšik from the Department of Conducting Polymers. Dr. Tomšik collaborated on the research with Dr. Martin Hrubý from the Department of Supramolecular Polymer Systems and Dr. Ognen Pop-Georgievski from the Department of Chemistry and Physics of Surfaces and BioInterfaces, the UNESCO/IUPAC postgraduate course participant Dr. Rimeh Ismail.
