Réseaux ECL multidimensionnels formés de lab-on-molecules – MULTIDIM-LAB

It is the goal and vision of this joint project between groups in Bordeaux and Siegen to mount a high-density array of probes, which themselves constitute multianalyte sensoric units (called: lab-on-molecule), at the 6000 nanotips of a multi-fiber optical bundle, thus enabling n-dimensional (bio)chemical analysis in spatially confined settings by electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and photoluminescence (PL). As ECL has become a powerful quantitative analytical technique for immunoassays, food/water testing and many individual analytes, the present endeavor seeks to establish a full analytical laboratory at the global tip of a 300 ?m optical waveguide with its 6000 individual fibers (lab-on-nanotips). The relevance of this project, in comparison to other endeavors, is thus to set up a full analytical laboratory, suited for all kind of invasive diagnostics in microenvironments, on the basis of the ?sensor array in a sensor array? concept: several distinct lab-on-molecules (array no. 1: using two-channel detection with ECL and PL) will be combined on 6000 nanotips (array no. 2). It is the ?sensor array in a sensor array? concept that will provide the required high resolution analytics. To accomplish this goal, the fiber optical nanotips (diameter: 3 µm; apex: 30 nm curvature radius) need to be addressed in an individually guided and spatially highly defined electropolymerization/functionalization process, such that each individual tip may be equipped with a distinct sensoric lab-on-molecule ECL system conductively connected to the electroactive surface by an electropolymeric backbone. In this respect, the concept additionally opens options for all kind of applications requiring the functionalization of individual fiber optical nanotips, while keeping intimate electric contact with the functional unit through the ITO cover and the electropolymer. In order to solve the above challenges new organic and technological tools need to be established that allow to implement the required multidimensional sensoric arrays at the 6000 individual tips of a multifiber optical system using electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and photoluminescence (PL) as the detection techniques. This venture will necessitate (1) the development of a hitherto unknown photoresponsive electropolymer that can be functionalized after photodeprotection, and (2) the development of an array of lab-on-molecules. So far only two lab-on-molecules are known in the literature. Furthermore, it will require important parallel technological developments, such as (3) the controlled electropolymerization at the conductive ITO-coated nanotips, and (4) the development of controlled single fiber light injection to allow for the well-directed functionalization with ECL sensoric units at each of the 6000 fiber tips. Clearly, the more individual ECL/PL sensors are mounted, the more it should be possible to analyze even utmost complex analyte mixtures in a quantitative manner, in particular after use of training methods based on probabilistic neural networks. The combination of a lab-on-nanotips with a spatially defined array of lab-on-molecules is without precedence and requires ? as enumerated above ? from both groups the development of complementary technologies mostly unsolved so far in the literature.