Abstract [eng] |
Nowadays, fast sensors for different substances are becoming very important. One such sensor is pH, which is important in chemical and biological processes, especially if they have several different levels of varying acidity. Other sensors detect pesticides hazardous to human health in foodstuffs or drinking water. One possible example is a sensor for atrazine, which has already been banned in Europe but its residues are still found. Glass electrodes, often used for pH determination, are unsuitable in some systems due to their size, shape, frequent need for calibration and long measurement time. In contrast, atrazine is routinely detected by mass spectrometry, ELISA or chromatography, which are unsuitable for rapid field testing due to the conditions of use. For these reasons, the development of new electrochemical pH and atrazine sensors is demanded. This thesis focuses on tracking the pH of a solution using a sensor that is more convenient and flexible than existing ones. This thesis aims to develop electrochemical pH and atrazine sensors using conductive polymers from natural monomers such as riboflavin, folate and the amino acid L-lysine. In this work, polyfolate is used for the first time in developing a pH sensor because it is a conductive, pH sensitive, biodegradable, non-hazardous compound. Such a sensor operates in the pH range between 6 and 9. A copolymer of folate and L-lysine is used for the first time in the development of an atrazine sensor due to the electrocatalytic effect of the polyfolate on atrazine and the ability of L-lysine to improve the binding of atrazine to the negatively charged polyfolate. |