Granted Patent B2

US 12,605,093 · App. 17/744,643 · Granted Apr 21, 2026

Inventors: Chuan-Jian Zhong (Endwell, NY); Mark D. Poliks (Vestal, NY); Benjamin S. Hsiao (Setauket, NY); Ning Kang (Vestal, NY); Shan Yan (Vestal, NY); Jing Li (Vestal, NY); Shiyao Shan (Vestal, NY); Jin Luo (Vestal, NY)

Assignee: The Research Foundation for The State University of New York

A61B5/1477A61B5/082A61B5/14517A61B5/4266B33Y80/00A61B5/145A61B2560/0412A61B2562/0285A61B2562/0295A61B2562/12

Abstract

Claims (40)

1 . A method of manufacturing a sensing medium, comprising:

casting a layer of organic nanofibers in an aqueous slurry onto a substrate, under conditions which cause the organic nanofibers in the aqueous slurry to gel on a surface of the substrate to form a nanofibrous layer, the organic nanofibers having exposed groups capable of at least one of ionic bonding, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals interaction; and

depositing on the nanofibrous layer, a solution containing insoluble conductive nanoparticles, derivatized with a ligand which at least one of ionically bonds, hydrogen bonds, and van der Waals bonds with the exposed groups of the organic nanofibers, to link the nanoparticles with nanofibers within the nanofibrous layer.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the insoluble conductive nanoparticles have a diameter less than 150 nm.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the insoluble conductive nanoparticles are gold nanoparticles, derivatized to have a charge in aqueous solution.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the organic nanofibers have a nanofiber diameter of less than 15 nm and gel during formation of the nanofibrous layer.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a non-woven fibrous substrate.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the non-woven fibrous substrate comprises polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a fibrous layer and the organic nanofibers in the aqueous slurry gel and remain on a surface of the fibrous layer substantially without the organic nanofibers invading an interior of the fibrous layer.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the layer of organic nanofibers comprises nanofibrous cellulose, which is gelled at a pH less than 3.

9 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the fibrous layer comprises electrospun fibers formed of at least one of crosslinked polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and crosslinked polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA).

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the insoluble conductive nanoparticles comprise gold nanoparticles, and the exposed groups of the organic nanofibers comprise at least one of:

11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) as a molecular linker with hydrogen-bonding groups for interlinking alkanethiolate ligands of the gold nanoparticles; and

poly (diallyl ammonium) (PDA) as a matrix with positively-changed groups for anchoring negative-charge ligands of the gold nanoparticles.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a permeable layer, supported on a fibrous layer, supported on a non-woven layer.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the permeable layer consists essentially of fibers having a diameter larger than a diameter of the fibers within the fibrous layer, and fibers of the non-woven layer have a larger diameter than fibers of the permeable layer.

13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the insoluble conductive nanoparticles are selectively deposited on the nanofibrous layer in a predefined pattern.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the layer of organic nanofibers consists essentially of fibers having a fiber diameter of less than about 15 nm, and the substrate comprises a fibrous intervening layer having a fiber diameter of less than about 250 nm, disposed on a flexible support layer.

15 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the insoluble conductive nanoparticles interact with the nanofibrous layer by at least one of:

linkage to a thiolate through a thiol bond;

linkage to 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) within the nanofibrous layer through a hydrogen bond;

linkage to a carboxylic acid; and

electrostatic linkage to poly (diallyl) ammonium) within the nanofibrous layer.

16 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising forming a pair of interdigitated conductive traces spaced across a gap on the sensing medium, adapted to sense a change in conductivity or capacitance of the sensing medium due to interaction of an analyte with the deposited insoluble conductive nanoparticles.

17 . A method of forming a sensor for sensing an analyte, comprising:

forming a sensing medium on a substrate, by:

depositing a suspension of cellulose nanofibers in an aqueous medium onto the substrate;

allowing the suspension of cellulose nanofibers to gel into a nanofibrous layer over the substrate;

coating the cellulose nanofibers in the nanofibrous layer with a plurality of metallic nanoparticles, the plurality of metallic nanoparticles being derivatized to reversibly interact with the nanofibrous layer and an analyte, based on at least one of electronic charge, ligand coordination, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals force, polarity, hydrophilicity, and hydrophobicity; and

forming at least one electrode, for sensing a change in a state of the sensing medium over time responsive to the analyte, and producing an electrical signal output corresponding to the change in the state,

the sensing medium being responsive to a change in the analyte by a change in the electrical signal output.

18 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein

the plurality of metallic nanoparticles comprise gold nanoparticles which interact with the nanofibrous layer by at least one of linkage to a thiolate through a thiol bond; linkage to 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) within the nanofibrous layer through a hydrogen bond; linkage to a carboxylic acid; and electrostatic linkage to poly (diallyl) ammonium) within the nanofibrous layer, and

the analyte is at least one of moisture and ions.

19 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the at least one electrode comprises a pair of interdigitated conductive traces spaced across a gap to sense a change in conductivity or capacitance of the sensing medium.

20 . A method of forming a sensor, comprising:

forming a sensing medium by:

casting a layer of organic nanofibers in an aqueous slurry on a substrate, under conditions which cause the organic nanofibers in the aqueous slurry to gel, the organic nanofibers having exposed groups capable of at least one of ionic bonding, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals interaction; and

decorating the organic nanofibers with a plurality of nanoparticles by depositing a solution containing insoluble conductive nanoparticles, derivatized with a ligand which at least one of ionically bonds, hydrogen bonds, and van der Waals bonds with the organic nanofibers, on the layer of the organic nanofibers, to link the nanoparticles with nanofibers within the layer of the organic nanofibers;

forming at least one electrode configured to sense a state of the sensing medium, and to produce an electrical signal output corresponding to the state.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)