Membrane sampler for interference-free flow injection NO determination in biological fluids with chemiluminescence detection

Abstract The development of a chemiluminescence (CL) method based on the perm-selective properties of a Nafion-cellulose acetate (CA) composite membrane for the monitoring of nitric oxide (NO) in biological fluids is described. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used as NO trapping solution, forming the stable compound HRP-NO. The HRP was denatured and the trapped NO was released and detected by using the luminol-H 2 O 2 system. Using a mixed (size-exclusion and polar-based) transport control, the interference effects of various compounds were minimized. The method was used for NO monitoring in simulated samples, by using a blood specimen as sample matrix. The 3σ detection limit is 0.9 × 10 −6 mol and linear semi-log calibration plot in the range 1.8 × 10 −6 to 2.7 × 10 −3 mol NO was constructed. The applied methodology was further used to prolong the NO lifetime in order to increase the sensitivity of its determination. This was based on the increase of the response in the presence of certain reductive species, which act as NO preservatives in biological fluid samples

Enantioselective Artificial Receptors Formed by the Spreader-Bar Technique

Chiroselective binding sites have been created on thin gold films by application of the spreader-bar approach. Impedometric techniques and surface plasmon resonance were applied to detect binding. (R)-(+)-1,1′-Binaphthyl-2,2′-diol (R-BNOH) and (S)-(−)-1,1′-binaphthyl-2,2′-diol (S-BNOH) were used as model analytes. The artificial receptors were prepared by co-adsorption of 16-mercaptohexadecane (matrix) with a thiol-modified chiral selector (template). The conjugates of D,L-thioctic acid and (R)-(+)- or (S)-(−)-1,1′-binaphthyl-2,2′-diamine were used as templates. Different concentration ratios of the matrix and template were tested. No chiral selectivity of surfaces formed by either the matrix or the template alone was observed. The use of alkylthiols shorter than 16-mercaptohexadecane led to the formation of surfaces with no chiral selectivity. The gold electrodes coated by the spreader-bar technique displayed an enantioselectivity of up to 4.76 or up to 2.55 as measured by the capacitive and SPR methods, respectively