Analysis of relevant technical issues and deficiencies of the existing sensors and related initiatives currently set and working in marine environment. New generation technologies for cost-effective sensors

The last decade has seen significant growth in the field of sensor networks, which are currently collecting large amounts of environmental data. This data needs to be collected, processed, stored and made available for analysis and interpretation in a manner which is meaningful and accessible to end users and stakeholders with a range of requirements, including government agencies, environmental agencies, the research community, industry users and the public. The COMMONSENSE project aims to develop and provide cost-effective, multi-functional innovative sensors to perform reliable in-situ measurements in the marine environment. The sensors will be easily usable across several platforms, and will focus on key parameters including eutrophication, heavy metal contaminants, marine litter (microplastics) and underwater noise descriptors of the MSFD. The aims of Tasks 2.1 and 2.2 which comprise the work of this deliverable are: • To obtain a comprehensive understanding and an up-to-date state of the art of existing sensors. • To provide a working basis on “new generation” technologies in order to develop cost-effective sensors suitable for large-scale production. This deliverable will consist of an analysis of state-of-the-art solutions for the different sensors and data platforms related with COMMONSENSE project. An analysis of relevant technical issues and deficiencies of existing sensors and related initiatives currently set and working in marine environment will be performed. Existing solutions will be studied to determine the main limitations to be considered during novel sensor developments in further WP’s. Objectives & Rationale The objectives of deliverable 2.1 are: • To create a solid and robust basis for finding cheaper and innovative ways of gathering data. This is preparatory for the activities in other WPs: for WP4 (Transversal Sensor development and Sensor Integration), for WP(5-8) (Novel Sensors) to develop cost-effective sensors suitable for large-scale production, reducing costs of data collection (compared to commercially available sensors), increasing data access availability for WP9 (Field testing) when the deployment of new sensors will be drawn and then realized

Development of spectroscopic assays for rapid monitoring of estrogen biodegradation

Estrogen hormones are well-established environmental micropollutants which have been linked to endocrine disruption in aquatic organisms in wastewater discharge sites. Biological degradation is the primary wastewater treatment mechanism for estrogen removal. However, treatment efficacy is highly variable and difficult to engineer due to the “black box” nature of biological treatment. Microbial strain selection is a critical impediment towards engineering estrogen biodegradation, since isolating endogenous strains with specific metabolic traits requires lengthy enrichment cultures and is limited to culturable organisms. Furthermore, the highly sensitive and selective chemical trace analysis techniques used to measure estrogen removal are relatively expensive and inefficient. In this thesis, we developed rapid, high-throughput spectroscopic methods designed to monitor estrogen biodegradation. The spectroscopic methods include a fluorometric assay based on the uptake of a fluorescently-labelled estrogen and a colorimetric biosensor using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and an aptamer bioreceptor. A synthetic microbial community comprised of characterised estrogen-degrading reference strains was used to evaluate the fitness for purpose of the developed methods. A trace analysis method using conventional chromatography was developed to validate the use of the fluorescent probes with the synthetic microbial community. The biochemical fate and distribution of the BODIPY-estrogen in the estrogen-degrading bacteria – specifically, the biotransformation of BODIPY-estradiol to BODIPY-estrone by Caenibius tardaugens – was used to inform the design of the fluorometric assay. The fluorometric assay utilises a cell impermeable halide quencher to suppress the extracellular fluorescence, and thus, the obtained fluorescence response was attributed to the selective internalisation of BODIPY-estrogen by C. tardaugens. While the fluorometric assay was developed to screen for estrogen-degrading bacteria, the colorimetric aptasensor, which was adapted from published AuNP biosensors and aptamers for this application, was developed to quantify 17β-estradiol (E2) in buffered culture media. The developed aptasensor was evaluated against industry guidelines for ligand-binding assays. While the analytical performance of the aptasensor satisfied the majority of the guidelines’ acceptance criteria, the method suffered from biological interferences by the estrogen-degrading bacteria. The work in this thesis contributes towards expanding the available bioanalytical methods in environmental biotechnology

Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for (Bio)Sensors Development

Carbon-based nanomaterials have been increasingly used in sensors and biosensors design due to their advantageous intrinsic properties, which include, but are not limited to, high electrical and thermal conductivity, chemical stability, optical properties, large specific surface, biocompatibility, and easy functionalization. The most commonly applied carbonaceous nanomaterials are carbon nanotubes (single- or multi-walled nanotubes) and graphene, but promising data have been also reported for (bio)sensors based on carbon quantum dots and nanocomposites, among others. The incorporation of carbon-based nanomaterials, independent of the detection scheme and developed platform type (optical, chemical, and biological, etc.), has a major beneficial effect on the (bio)sensor sensitivity, specificity, and overall performance. As a consequence, carbon-based nanomaterials have been promoting a revolution in the field of (bio)sensors with the development of increasingly sensitive devices. This Special Issue presents original research data and review articles that focus on (experimental or theoretical) advances, challenges, and outlooks concerning the preparation, characterization, and application of carbon-based nanomaterials for (bio)sensor development

Point-of-care colorimetric sensors for disease diagnosis and food monitoring

Current analyte detection techniques in healthcare and food industries, such as UV-Vis spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy, and liquid or gas chromatography, are expensive, time-consuming, laboratory-dependent, and require trained personnel. These challenges drive the development of point-of-care (POC) sensing that is simple, cheap, rapid, and allow naked-eye detection. Nanomaterials with unique physicochemical properties play essential roles in the development of POC colorimetric sensors, leading to remarkable improvements in detection sensitivities, ease of operation, and robustness of the sensing platforms. These nanomaterials have shown their high stability towards extreme environmental conditions, high tunability upon various modifications, high capabilities to conjugate with chemical and biological molecules, highlighting their applicability in a wide range of sensing applications. In this thesis, I demonstrate three different POC sensing platforms using inorganic metal oxide nanoparticles and organic nanomaterials (conjugated polymers) towards protein and volatile organic compounds for disease diagnosis and food quality monitoring. In the first system, I aimed to identify methods to improve the catalytic activity of ceria nanozymes and tackle the demand for POC diagnostic devices by developing a simple, rapid, label-free colorimetric paper-based assay using the optimized ceria nanoparticles. The paper-based assay can detect serum albumin, a biomarker for chronic kidney disease. The colorimetric responses can be observed by the naked eye within 5 minutes and the paper-based ceria nanoparticle assay can preserve its catalytic activity over 3 months when stored at room temperature, highlighting its potential for long-term sensing applications. In the second system, I aimed to resolve the issue of invalid estimation of food quality by embedding food sensors onto food packaging. I developed a food sensor using conjugated polymer polydiacetylene (PDA) by inkjet printing on the food packaging. The sensor can detect five biogenic amines commonly released from spoiled food including putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, histamine, and tyramine. Furthermore, the PDA-based sensor can detect chicken thigh spoilage in real-time when stored at different temperature conditions (4 °C and room temperature). This sensor can provide a valid estimation of food quality in real-time, showing a great potential to reduce food waste and foodborne illness. In the last system, I aimed to tackle the demand for developing more sustainable materials for food sensing applications. I synthesized bioplastic from whey protein isolate and incorporated with PDA, achieving a plastic-based sensor for food spoilage detection, and providing a potential for intelligent food packaging. The PDA-based plastic sensor demonstrated the detection towards cadaverine and spermidine, the main chemical compounds released from seafood products, enabling the tuna steak spoilage detection at 4 °C and room temperature in real time. Furthermore, the PDA-based bioplastic also showed a high disintegration rate and low toxicity. The PDA-based plastic sensor demonstrates its potential to reduce environmental stress and provide valid food quality indication. In summary, I presented colorimetric sensors, which allow for simple, cheap, rapid, portable, and naked-eye detection towards protein and volatile organic compounds for disease diagnosis and food spoilage monitoring

The 1st International Electronic Conference on Chemical Sensors and Analytical Chemistry

The 1st International Electronic Conference on Chemical Sensors and Analytical Chemistry was held on 1–15 July 2021. The scope of this online conference was to gather experts that are well-known worldwide who are currently working in chemical sensor technologies and to provide an online forum for the presention and discussion of new results. Throughout this event, topics of interest included, but were not limited to, the following: electrochemical devices and sensors; optical chemical sensors; mass-sensitive sensors; materials for chemical sensing; nano- and micro-technologies for sensing; chemical assays and validation; chemical sensor applications; analytical methods; gas sensors and apparatuses; electronic noses; electronic tongues; microfluidic devices; lab-on-a-chip; single-molecule sensing; nanosensors; and medico-diagnostic testing

Geochemical studies on colloidal and macromolecular constituents in surface waters

Imperial Users onl

Marine Resources Application Potential for Biotechnological Purposes

Blue biotechnology plays a major role in converting marine biomass into societal value, being a key pillar for many marine economy developmental frameworks and sustainability strategies, such as the Blue Growth Strategy, diverse Sea Basin Strategies (e.g., Atlantic Action Plan Priority 1 and 2 and COM (2017) 183), the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Limassol Declaration, or even the UN Sustainable Development 2030 Agenda. However, despite the recognized biotechnological potential of marine biomass, the work is dispersed between multiple areas of applied biotechnology, resulting in few concrete examples of product development.This book highlight the vast potential that marine resources hold, from viruses to seaweeds, and a myriad of applications from antimicrobials and cosmetics to feed and food that contributes to a market-driven and industrially orientated research, which will increase the efficiency of the marine biodiscovery pipeline and ultimately deliver realistic and measurable benefits to society, which is paramount for sustained blue growth and a successful market penetration of targeted biomolecules or enriched extracts for new product development, which are cornerstone issues for the present and the future of a marine biobased economy

Oceanography

How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean (Arthur C. Clarke). Life has been originated in the oceans, human health and activities depend from the oceans and the world life is modulated by marine and oceanic processes. From the micro-scale, like coastal processes, to macro-scale, the oceans, the seas and the marine life, play the main role to maintain the earth equilibrium, both from a physical and a chemical point of view. Since ancient times, the world's oceans discovery has brought to humanity development and wealth of knowledge, the metaphors of Ulysses and Jason, represent the cultural growth gained through the explorations and discoveries. The modern oceanographic research represents one of the last frontier of the knowledge of our planet, it depends on the oceans exploration and so it is strictly connected to the development of new technologies. Furthermore, other scientific and social disciplines can provide many fundamental inputs to complete the description of the entire ocean ecosystem. Such multidisciplinary approach will lead us to understand the better way to preserve our "Blue Planet": the Earth