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Die Verbindung von hoch entwickelten Nanomaterialien mit fluoreszenzbasierten Technologien hat sich zu einem aufstrebenden Forschungsbereich entwickelt. Nichtsdestotrotz ist bis heute der Schritt von einem organischen Indikatormolekül zum anwendbaren Sensorsystem ein komplexer Prozess. Diese Arbeit zielte darauf ab, sensorische Materialien verschiedener chemischer Natur für diverse Analyten zu entwickeln, zu charakterisieren und zu etablieren. Hierbei wurden zunächst pH sensitive Fluoreszenzfarbstoffe entwickelt und in dünnen Membranen immobilisiert. Der Teststreifen ermöglicht die Beurteilung von pH-Änderungen mit dem Auge. Darüber hinaus wurde gezeigt, wie diese Farbstoffe auch in eine wasserlösliche Form überführt werden können. Damit konnten lokale pH-Änderungen an der Wachstumsfront von Silikat-Biomorphs detektiert werden. Auch partikuläre Systeme stellten sich als geeignete Materialien heraus. Es konnte gezeigt werden, wie die Silikat-Matrix von Partikeln zu verbesserten Eigenschaften für Farbstoffe führt. Mittels farbstoffbeladener Partikel konnte in einem Lateral-Flow-Assay ein schneller Nachweis von TATP etabliert werden. Ein anderer Ansatz verfolgte das Ziel des sensitiven Nachweises von Quecksilberionen in Wasser. In einem anderen System konnten Silikat-Nanopartikeln so funktionalisiert werden, dass ein sensitiver und selektiver Nachweis von Schwermetallionen und Anionen über ein Quencher-Displacement-Assay gelang. Zusätzlich wurde die einzigartige Oberfläche von Zellulosepartikeln mithilfe eines neu entwickelten Fluoreszenzfarbstoffs untersucht. Die untersuchten Materialien und Strategien zeigen, wie leicht innovative Moleküle für potentielle sensorische Systeme im wässrigen Medium auf Basis von fluoreszierenden Partikeln und dünnen Schichten geschaffen werden können. Das Verhalten der hergestellten Materialien wurde über spektroskopische Methoden evaluiert und dabei, wenn möglich, die Parameter Sensitivität, Selektivität und Ansprechzeit beurteilt., The combination of fluorescence and nanomaterials has developed into an emerging research area. Nonetheless until now the step from an organic sensory molecule to a final sensor format is a complex endeavor. This thesis aimed at the preparation of particulate and thin-film based platforms for various analytes through combining the features of an appropriate host material with outstanding properties of dyes concomitant with sensitive fluorescence detection techniques. In particular, pH sensitive fluorescent probes were sterically immobilized into a thin membrane. The dip-stick allows the assessment upon change in pH with the eye. Especially a probe working at high basic pH range was converted into a water-soluble analogue and was directly applied at the growth front of silica biomorphs to detect local pH changes. But also particulate structures are suitable host materials. It is shown how the silica matrix of nanoparticles lead to improved optical properties for embedded dyes. The interactions of silica and fluorescent dyes within the pores of mesoporous particles were exploited to develop an actual sensor format based detection of TATP. In another approach it was possible to detect mercury ions in water. Heavy metal ions were also successfully detected in a quencher displacement assay involving receptor-dye functionalized silica nanoparticles. The impact of the unique surface properties of cellulose microparticles was shown by a fluorescent dye which allows an assessment of the surface functional groups and microenvironment through the reactivity and its changes in the optical properties. The performance of the prepared materials were evaluated mostly by spectroscopic methods and if possible assessed in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and response time. The newly developed and investigated materials based on fluorescent particulate and thin-films show the facile application of innovative sensor probes for potentially sensing devices.

Hybrid nanoparticles with a large specific surface area are a particularly exciting vehicle for delivery applications. Such highly porous or container-like structures, usually prepared from silica and frequently from gold, can incorporate a large number of chemical substances such as drug and/or indicator molecules. When equipped with a chemically or physically addressable gating function at the openings of the voids, the release of the cargo can be controlled at will. Because many more molecules can be stored as cargo in the pores of the support than there are functional groups as anchoring sites for the gating entities attached to the outer surface (for efficient pore capping), the systems possess inherent features of (signal) amplification. The present article will introduce various design strategies for different types of physical (light, temperature, magnetism) and chemical (pH, metal ions, anion, small organic molecules, enzymes) stimuli in connection with drug and indicator release. We will highlight exciting aspects of combining both features in theranostic applications and will stress which requirements still have to be met by many of the systems to be readily applicable in a sensory context.

[EN] Antibodygated MSNs that are loaded with a rhodamine dye and that can be used for the determination of the presence of peroxide-based explosive TATP with a lateral-flow fluorescence reader have been designed and prepared, thereby allowing for detection limits in the lower ppb range. The mechanism of the detection relies on a displacement of the antibody from the surface of the hybrid material because of highly affine antibody-TATP interactions, which release a much larger number of entrapped dye molecules from the pores than antibodies are displaced. The high selectivity of the antibody is retained in the gated material, thus allowing for a remarkable discrimination against H2O2. System design and optimization led to straightforward integration into a lateral-flow assay without further treatment or conditioning of the test strips while guaranteeing fast overall assay times of minus or equal 10 min. Moreover, besides showing a remarkable robustness, the inherent architecture of the assay relies on a single-step immunochemical reaction, that is, it can dispense with secondary (labeled) antibodies and enables ratiometric signal assessment in the presence of the analyte by simple comparison of the fluorescence signals in two zones. Because of the modularity of the approach, the concept is easily generalizable and applicable for many small-molecule analytes. For instance, assays can be imagined that contain various hybrids of S1-AB(n) type, for which each material capped with a certain antibody is loaded with a different dye, thus envisioning multiplexed analysis with such simple assays.

In conjunction with quenching metal ions, silica nanoparticles carrying terpyridine coordination sites and sulforhodamine B signalling units were employed for the differential fluorometric recognition of anions. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

[EN] This review highlights how the combination of supramolecular principles and nanoscopic solid structures enables the design of new hybrid sensing ensembles with improved sensitivity and/or selectivity and for the targeting of analytes for which selectivity is hard to achieve by conventional methods. Such ideas are bridging the gap between molecules, materials sciences and nanotechnology. Relevant examples will be detailed, taking into account functional aspects such as (1) enhanced coordination of functionalized solids, (2) enhanced signalling through preorganization, (3) signalling by assembly-disassembly of nanoscopic objects, (4) biomimetic probes utilizing discrimination by polarity and size and (5) distinct switching and gating protocols. These strategies are opening new prospects for sensor research and signalling paradigms at the frontier between nanotechnology, smart materials and supramolecular chemistry. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.