devices made/being made in the buhlmann group

Our motivation    

Ion-Selective electrodes (ISEs) are routinely used worldwide in clinical chemistry for well over a billion measurements per year. However, the life­time of these sensors is often limited by lipids and hydrophobic proteins that adsorb onto or are extracted into their polymeric matrixes and other factors that lead to electrode failure, preventing long-term implantation of receptor-based chemical sensors in the human body, and has limited the use of these sensors in the food industry and environmental monitoring. Some major aims of our research are:

1.Long-term electrode stability
2.Calibration-free sensors
3.Increased selectivity
4.Novel sensors for environmental and clinical analyses
 
 
setup

Fluorous phases and electrochemistry!   

In our research, we take advantage of the properties of perfluorinated matrixes ((i)chemically very inert, (ii)inhibit cell growth, (iii)have extremely low polarity and polarizability) to develop electrodes with enhanced selectivities, long life-time and wider applications.With our designed fluorophilic ionic additives, we have developed the first electrodes with fluorous phase for cation and anion sensing.

    We have also developed the first perflouropolymeric matrix discovering previously unknown fluoropolymer blends. Receptor-doped pH sensors have also been developed. With further optimization, we will design different fluorophilic receptors for other analytes and test these electrodes in real-life samples.

why flourous

Crucial factors on Calibration-Free Ion-Selective Electrodes!

Philippe Buhlmann's and Celeste R. Rousseaus's recent review and tutorial: Calibration-free potentiometric sensing with solid-contact ion-selective electrodes covers essential topics for graduate students or others working in the field of solid-contact ion-selective electrodes aiming for calibration-free devices!

 Click here for a publications overview, up-to-date as of summer 2021!

redox buffer

Calibration-free electrochemical sensors

CIM carbon ISEs

CIM carbon-based ISEs

fluorous sensors

Flourous sensors