Lab-on-Chip Detection of Chirals by Ferrites' Field Symmetry Breaking Effects

通过铁氧体场对称破缺效应对手性进行片上实验室检测

• 批准号: EP/X016765/1
• 负责人: Georgios Dimitrakis
• 金额: $ 25.8万
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX016765%2F1
• 关键词: Lab; Chip; Detection; Chirals; Ferrites

Molecular chirality is ubiquitous in life on earth, its importance is well established and plays a crucial role in the function of biological systems but also in many aspects of the current technological practises, related to the production of chemical and advanced materials. Unfortunately, the detection of chirals remains a complex and difficult task. This limits our understanding of fundamental natural procedures and constitutes a major technological barrier that inhibits numerous technological fields tasked with tackling the grand challenges that humanity is currently facing, including climate change, energy, food and water security. For example, green technologies mimicking natural processes i.e. use of enzymes in chemical synthesis have the potential to offer solutions to many of those problems. Enzymatic reactions mainly involve enantiomers therefore progress in this field is hindered by the lack of the appropriate tools for monitoring these reactions. This project will deliver step changes in the detection of chiral molecules by exploiting their interaction with magneto-electric fields generated by ferrites. It will develop miniaturised/portable sensors based on microwave resonant structures containing ferrites. In that way will alleviate the current need for costly, laborious preparations and difficult experimentation. It will provide the technological solutions that are necessary to facilitate on-line and in-situ monitoring of such systems and will transform current scientific and industrial practises paving the road to better understanding and optimised control of these processes. Therefore, it will underpin the future development of a vast area of applications that have the potential to tackle essential problems. The proposed project is highly innovative, ambitious and timely. It will push the boundaries of current knowledge and will develop analytical instrumentation with capabilities that are beyond what is achievable today with standard instrumentation. It will expand our current knowledge of real systems that are pertinent to biology and real life applications. It will represent a step change in portability, flexibility and speed of characterisation of enantiomers without the constant need for access to expensively equipped analytical laboratories. Following the successful development of the sensors and methodologies, current practices will be transformed and current major limitations in diverse scientific applications that utilise high throughput screening and field studies will be suitably addressed. In addition, the establishment of in-situ and online methodologies across the scales (large scale to lab on chip solutions) is expected to have a profound impact in process optimisation and control during the development and mass production of important chemicals, biochemical and advanced materials as well as broader applications including investigations on the origins of life in our planet.

分子手性在地球生命中普遍存在，其重要性是众所周知的，不仅在生物系统的功能中发挥着至关重要的作用，而且在与化学和先进材料生产相关的当前技术实践的许多方面也发挥着至关重要的作用。不幸的是，手性的检测仍然是一项复杂而困难的任务。这限制了我们对基本自然程序的理解，并构成了一个主要的技术障碍，阻碍了许多负责应对人类当前面临的重大挑战的技术领域，包括气候变化、能源、粮食和水安全。例如，模仿自然过程的绿色技术，即在化学合成中使用酶，有可能为许多这些问题提供解决方案。酶促反应主要涉及对映体，因此由于缺乏监测这些反应的适当工具，该领域的进展受到阻碍。该项目将利用手性分子与铁氧体产生的磁电场的相互作用，为手性分子的检测带来阶跃变化。它将开发基于含有铁氧体的微波谐振结构的小型/便携式传感器。这样将减轻目前对昂贵、费力的准备工作和困难实验的需求。它将提供促进此类系统在线和原位监测所需的技术解决方案，并将改变当前的科学和工业实践，为更好地理解和优化控制这些过程铺平道路。因此，它将支持未来广大应用领域的发展，这些应用领域有可能解决根本问题。拟议的项目具有高度创新性、雄心勃勃且及时。它将突破当前知识的界限，并将开发出具有超出当今标准仪器所能达到的功能的分析仪器。它将扩展我们当前对与生物学和现实生活应用相关的真实系统的知识。它将代表对映异构体表征的便携性、灵活性和速度的巨大变化，而无需持续访问配备昂贵的分析实验室。随着传感器和方法的成功开发，当前的实践将发生转变，并且利用高通量筛选和现场研究的各种科学应用中当前的主要限制将得到适当解决。此外，跨尺度（大规模到芯片实验室解决方案）的原位和在线方法学的建立预计将对重要化学品、生化和先进材料的开发和大规模生产过程中的工艺优化和控制产生深远影响。以及更广泛的应用，包括对地球生命起源的调查。