Ability of 10,12- pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) liposome as chemo/biosensor: sensing struct

Chemo/biosensors are analytical tools to detect and understand chemical and biological molecules. They are in high demand as they are efficient methods used in various technologies such as drug detection in human blood, determination of drug residues in the food, and environmental applications to detect pesticides and heavy metal ions. Polydiacetylene (PDA) liposome is a great candidate for chemo/biosensor that the color transition is induced by external stimuli. In this experiment, I studied the ability of 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA: derivative of PDA) liposome and β –cyclodextrin(β-CD) conjugated PCDA liposome as chemo/biosensors. I observed their color changing pattern when both PCDA liposomes were probed with chalcone compounds divided into 4 different groups based on their different structures. The color change was observed by both naked eyes and measuring absorbance of probed chalcones by spectrophotometer. Colorimetric response equation was calculated based on the spectrophotometer data to confirm that the color change was significant. The result showed that PCDA liposomes have very specific pattern of sensing that it can distinguish molecules by molecular size, functional group, and concentration. Also, the β-CD conjugated PCDA liposome had increase sensitivity and selectivity in distinguishing chalcone structures. This PDA liposome shows potential in new method of low cost, simple, fast reacting and sensitive chemo/biosensor.