What is it about?
The reflection or scattering of light from fluorinated plastic with refractive index similar to that of water enables to detect and quantify different molecular pollutants in water. This work provides experimental results and analytical models for the optical response of these materials almost invisible in water upon adsorption of molecules and the molecular features affecting this response.
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Why is it important?
This work demonstrates that: - and Rayleigh-Gans scattering model provides exactly the same results of simple Fresnel reflection when considering a molecular shell on the surface of these fluorinated materials; - the simple adsorption on these materials enables to discriminate among different molecules according to the amplitude and the kinetic of the optical signal, which depends on the size and the hydrophobic area of the molecules.
Perspectives
We can envision novel fluidic analytical systems based on these fluorinated materials, enabling the real-time, continuous monitoring of water contamination. These materials can be easily washed and regenerated several times. So, such analytical system could be deployed and run autonomously.
Professor Marco Buscaglia
Universita degli Studi di Milano
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Selective Adsorption on Fluorinated Plastic Enables the Optical Detection of Molecular Pollutants in Water, Physical Review Applied, May 2016, American Physical Society (APS),
DOI: 10.1103/physrevapplied.5.054012.
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