Issue 12, 2023

A cross-reactive plasmonic sensing array for drinking water assessment

Abstract

The continuous monitoring of remote drinking water purification systems is a global challenge with direct consequences for human and environmental health. Here, we utilise a “nano-tastebud” sensor comprised of eight chemically-tailored plasmonic metasurfaces, for testing the composition of drinking water. Through undertaking a full chemometric analysis of the water samples and likely contaminants we were able to optimise the sensor specification to create an array of suitable tastebuds. By generating a unique set of optical responses for each water sample, we show that the array-based sensor can differentiate between untreated influent and treated effluent water with over 95% accuracy in flow and can detect compositional changes in distributed modified tap water. Once fully developed, this system could be integrated into water treatment facilities and distribution systems to monitor for changes in water composition.

Graphical abstract: A cross-reactive plasmonic sensing array for drinking water assessment

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Aug. 2023
Accepted
30 Okt. 2023
First published
13 Nov. 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2023,10, 3500-3508

A cross-reactive plasmonic sensing array for drinking water assessment

J. R. Sperling, B. Poursat, L. Savage, I. Christie, C. Cuthill, B. L. Aekbote, K. McGuire, A. S. Karimullah, J. Robbie, W. T. Sloan, C. Gauchotte-Lindsay, W. J. Peveler and A. W. Clark, Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2023, 10, 3500 DOI: 10.1039/D3EN00565H

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