Electrochemical Analyser

In the pharmaceutical industry, the separation of enantiomers is of great importance as they have different effects on the human body. If one compound can cure a disease, its enantiomer may be inactive or even have totally different effect including undesired side effects. Therefore the chiral purity of reactive, or products, needs to be monitored during drug synthesis. Chiral recognition can be performed using electroanalytical techniques, where the electrical response of the redox species to an applied electric potential is different depending on the molecule chirality.

The ultimate aim of this project is to produce a flow-through electrochemical chiral sensor with microelectrodes and microfluidic channels for industrial, biological and pharmaceutical applications. Performing the analysis in situ via a throughput device rather than by taking samples would enable continuous monitoring of the chirality and reduce chemical wastage. Micro electrodes were chosen not only to save space, materials and chemicals but also for their steady state current response to potential stimulation.

Microelectrode arrays were fabricated using photolithographic techniques. The electric circuit is in gold, the SU8insulator is designed to shape the electrodes. The arrays were incorporated in a PDMS slab containing microfluidic channels. The device was mounted on a glass slab.

For more information please contact: Alice Delcourt-Lancon