Analyst Blog

On exposure to water, the "soaking" action of the polymer is analogous to the behaviour of a sponge.

This paper explains why the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate), regularly used for the preparation of solid-contact ion-selective electrodes, does not show evidence for a water layer.  One of the referees commented that ‘this manuscript clarifies an issue that has been puzzling me for a few years now.’  These findings will aid those working in the chemical sensors community by helping to understand the physical state of the polymer layers in solid-contact ion-selective electrodes when they are exposed to solutions.

Read the paper for free until 17th August.

Water uptake in the hydrophilic poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) solid-contact of all-solid-state polymeric ion-selective electrodes
Jean-Pierre Veder, Roland De Marco, Graeme Clarke, San Ping Jiang, Kathryn Prince, Ernö Pretsch and Eric Bakker
Analyst
DOI: 10.1039/C1AN15267J

You might also find this Analyst paper interesting….

Tuning the gas sensing performance of single PEDOT nanowire devices
Carlos M. Hangarter, Sandra C. Hernandez, Xueing He, Nicha Chartuprayoon, Yong Ho Choa and Nosang V. Myung
Analyst, 2011, 136, 2350-2358
DOI: 10.1039/C0AN01000f

This study could help predict future bird flu outbreaks.

In this paper, a team from Sydney, combine bioinformatics and high resolution mass spectrometry to identify the strain, time period and region of avian flu hemagglutinin.

Read the paper for free until 15th August.

Evolution of H5N1 influenza virus through proteotyping of hemagglutinin with high resolution mass spectrometry
Ji-Won Ha and Kevin M. Downard
Analyst
DOI: 10.1039/C1AN15354D

Breath samples are taken up by the ventilator and sent along a sample line to the mass spectrometer

David Smith from Keele University and colleagues have developed a way of continuously analysing the breath of unconscious patients undergoing surgery using a selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometer (SIFT-MS), which enables measurements to be taken and results to be viewed in the operating theatre.

“Specific breath gases can be monitored that can indicate to the surgeon and anaesthetist the status of the patient, thus allowing more informed decision making and improve the outcome of the surgical procedure,” says Smith.

Read Holly Sheahan’s news story in Chemistry World, and access the communication for free below:

Communication: On-line, real time monitoring of exhaled trace gases by SIFT-MS in the perioperative setting: a feasibility study
Piers R. Boshier, Julia R. Cushnir, Vikash Mistry, Alison Knaggs, Patrik Španěl, David Smith and George B. Hanna
Analyst, 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1AN15356K