This year, the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry was very special because it was the first time to be celebrated in South Africa. In addition, the conference was a unique experience for me because of several reasons. First, I was awarded the Early Career Analytical Electrochemistry Prize and I received my diploma at...
VolThinSens
'Challenging societal needs involving ions detection: New strategies for the development of Voltammetry ion Sensors based on Thin membranes'
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship European, H2020-MSCA-IF-2017, Grant no. 792824
Modern society is evolving to a scenario in which all daily activities will be monitored using smart sensors. The provision of rapid, reliable and decentralized data is crucial and chemical sensors are current candidates for this purpose. VolThinSens puts forward an innovative sensing strategy from the ground up for reliable detection of ions addressing problems that constitute the bottleneck for the final application of electrochemical sensors in real contexts. To achieve this, the research methodology of VolThinSens involves the exploration of thin ion-sensing membranes based on new materials by using voltammetry and innovative techniques that the project will put forward for the study of the membrane robustness. The developed sensors will be interrogated using coulometry towards a calibration-free technology based on counting charges of the ion analyte that are implied in the electrochemical process. VolThinSens will provide a solution for these two challenges offering robust ion sensors with a wide application perspective within EU priorities such as "citizens' welfare" and "protecting nature", among others. The final demonstration of the concept is conceived as the integration of the developed voltammetric sensors for the detection of two ions with pharmacological/clinical and environmental relevance as proof-of-concept: lithium and ammonium. Thus, lithium will be detected in urine, serum and dissolution testing of pharmaceuticals and ammonium in aquatic systems. Interestingly, in situ sensing is aimed through the implementation of the ammonium sensor into a custom-built profiler ion analyser and its deployment in a lake for levels mapping in depth and time axis. VolThinSens will enhance EU excellence and competitiveness in pharmacological/clinical control as well as water issues through the provision of trustable relevant data.
New in the Blog...
When I joined KTH to develop my Marie Curie project, Gaston Crespo came to my office telling me that he wanted to start a research line based on wearable sensors for sweat analysis. He was totally convinced that we could do very interesting things in the field and really descried the future of this technology: 'There are still many challenges...
One of the strengths of all the electrochemical sensors relates with its suitability to accomplish decentralised measurements. This means that "THE SENSOR GOES TO THE SAMPLE" rather than bringing the sample to the laboratory in where it is analyzed. This is a feature that not all the analytical techniques provide because of obvious reasons of...
About me
My name is Maria Cuartero and I am currently leading a MSCA project at KTH University (Stockholm, Sweden). This site is about the VolThinSens project.
mariacb@kth.se
maria.cuartero8@gmail.com