Development of displacement electrochemical inmunosensors: the case of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole

Identifier:  TDX:336

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX336

Authors:  Duarte, Maria Viviana

Abstract:
The purpose of this work is to explore and exploit the principles of Displacement Electrochemical Immunosensing (DEI) and Indirect Competitive ELISA (ICE) to detect 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). The rational design of indirect competitive ELISA for TCA detection is attempted. The developed assay detects TCA at concentrations from 1ppt to 1 ppm, with a limit of detection of 4.2 ppt. The assay can be commercially useful in situations where less than 80 minutes total assay time is required. A mathematical model (MM) is developed for the rational design of an electrochemical displacement immunosensor (DEI). Despite the low affinity constants of the antibodies obtained for this work a functional DEI is developed with the predicted by the MM high limit of detection for TCA (0.2 ppm). The non-specific adsorption (NSA) of proteins is identified as a critical problem inhibiting further optimization of the DEI. The use non-insulating Cu UPD as NSA controller or electrochemically compatible blocking, together with amperometric displacement detection are proposed as a platform that could permit further development of reagentless and labelless immunosensors.