Photo‐induced Energy Transfer (PET) based chemosensing is a very elegant way for reporting the presence of an analyte in solution. This method was successfully applied to the detection of many cationic species in solutions and already appears in interesting commercial applications. In this paper we report on the preparation and host–guest chemistry of 1,3‐di(2‐pyrrolyl)azulene (5), a new azulene‐based selective PET‐like chemosensor that turns fluorescent upon binding the fluoride anion. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005)

No abstract

A new approach to the chemo-mechanical detection of trace amounts of nitroaromatics, even in the presence of high concentrations of background materials, is presented. The detection scheme is based on the plasticization of an aminopropyl silane layer that is harnessed to a silicon beam following its reaction with nitroaromatic systems. The reactioninduced plasticization attenuates the temperature induced bending of the polymer-beam sandwich, offering a simple and very sensitive tool for the detection of nitroaromatic systems. Using this approach, it was possible to detect a sample of 100 pg TNT even in the presence of a 10 9 fold excess of a background material such as acetonitrile.

The asymmetric roughening of silicon microcantilevers using different vapor stain-etching conditions is studied with the aim of optimizing face selective coating of microcantilevers by polymers through simple dipping. The effect of roughening is studied by following the time-dependent guestinduced bending of silicone microcantilevers coated with a poly-4-vinylpyridine sensing layer. A correlation between the surface roughness of the microcantilevers and their timedependent guest-induced bending is gained from combining high resolution scanning electron microscopy studies of the surface of the microcantilevers as well as their cross-sections with time-dependent guest-induced microcantilever bending. The purpose of the present work is to lay the foundations for a small and relatively simple gas-phase sensing tool based on a microcantilever platform capable of offering wide range sensing capabilities.

No abstract